GIFT  OF 
Elisabeth  Whitney  Putnai 


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PRAYERS 

BY 

HORATIO    STEBBINS 


x     •  **>  J    *     N        v          !    * 


'• 


FROM    BAS-RELIEF 
BY   MRS     C.    H.    RIEBER. 


PRAYERS 


BY 


HORATIO    STEBBINS 

MINISTER    OP    THE 

FIRST    UNITARIAN    CHURCH 

OP    SAN    FRANCISCO 

1864-1902 


SAN  FRANCISCO 
THE  MURDOCH  PRESS 

1903 


TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE 
FIEST    UNITARIAN    CHURCH    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO 

"IN  WHOSE  FACES,"  FOB  MORE 
THAN  A  GENERATION,  "  HE  SAW 
THE  REFLECTION  OF  CHRISTIAN 
LOVE  FOR  HIM,  AND  WHO  RE- 
CEIVED WHAT  HE  HAD  TO  SAY 
AS  THE  STILL,  THIRSTY  EARTH 
RECEIVES  THE  GENTLE  RAIN," 
THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED  BY 
HIS  CHILDREN. 


'"?•    *•  O  "» 

i/o 


NOTE. 

IN  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-nine, 
unknown  to  my  father,  I  engaged  a 
stenographer,  who,  for  nearly  a  year, 
sent  me  reports  of  the  prayers  of  the 
Sunday  services. 

My  father  never  knew  that  this 
record  existed. 

Feeling  that  their  publication  will 
afford  an  opportunity  for  members  of 
his  congregation  and  others  who  loved 
him  to  have  and  to  hand  down  a  precious 
memorial  of  his  ministry,  this  little 

volume  is  offered. 

B.  S. 


PBAYEKS 


In  the  order  of  services  the  short  prayer  immediately  follows 
the  sermon. 


FEBEUAEY  17,  1889  -  MOENING 

INFINITE,  Holy,  and  Almighty  God,  our  Father, 
we  come  now  to  our  place  newly  consecrated  to 
thy  service;  we  come  with  hearts  refreshed  in 
the  genial  air  of  this  fair  day ;  lift  up  our  minds 
and  hearts  to  thee  with  devout  feeling,  rever- 
ence, and  prayer.  Our  wants  are  ever  constant 
and  ever  the  same;  our  weakness  is  ever  near 
and  our  sin  ever  nearer.  Thy  love  and  thy  grace 
are  greater  than  our  weakness  and  mightier  than 
our  sins,  and  we  come  to  thee,  0  God,  and  take 
refuge  in  thee,  our  Strength  and  our  Redeemer. 

Consecrate  unto  our  hearts,  we  pray  thee,  our 
experience — the  experience  of  life,  the  experi- 
ence of  its  events,  the  experience  of  its  trials,  of 
its  joys.  We  bless  thee  always  for  thy  greatness, 
the  majesty  of  thy  beauty,  and  we  pray  thee  let 
that  beauty  rest  upon  us,  O  God, — yea,  let  the 
beauty  of  our  God  rest  upon  us. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  One,  for  the  pleas- 
ant inheritance  upon  which  we  have  entered.  We 
9 


acknowledge  with  gratitude  all  our  debt  in  the 
past  to  those  who  have  gone  before  us,  the  foun- 
ders and  builders,  the  teachers,  those  who  have 
lifted  up  their  voice  to  thee  before  the  people, 
who  have  sung  songs  of  mighty  power,  and  spok- 
en words  of  grace,  sweetness,  love,  and  terrible 
retribution. 

And  now,  0  God,  thy  people  wait  for  thee, 
and  is  not  also  thy  coming  prepared  as  is  the 
morning?  Dost  thou  not  come  to  thy  people  as 
the  early  and  latter  rain  to  the  earth?  Come 
now,  thou  Holy  One,  refresh  the  hearts  of  thy 
children,  wash  away  all  their  sins,  and  remove 
their  sins  from  them  as  far  as  the  east  is  from 
the  west;  and  let  thy  blessing,  thy  tender  com- 
passion, thy  glory,  and  thy  joy  be  upon  us,  now 
and  evermore.  AMEN. 

0  God,  our  Father,  by  whose  Spirit  all  hearts 
are  moved  as  the  trees  of  the  wood  are  moved  by 
the  wind,  come  now  in  thy  abundant  grace  and 
bless  thy  people;  confirm  their  hearts  in  every 
pure  thought  and  in  every  good  purpose,  quicken 
their  minds,  their  reflections,  their  meditations, 
their  reason,  and  give  them  something  of  thy  in- 
dwelling and  divine  life,  which  thy  saints  have 
ever  called  the  life  of  God.  AMEN. 


10 


FEBEUAEY  17,  1889  -  EVENING 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  whose  strong  and 
mighty  hand  supports  the  steady  earth  and 
turns  it  upon  its  soft  and  silent  axle,  bringing 
again  the  shadows  of  the  night,  we  come  again 
to  our  place  of  prayer  to  lift  up  our  hearts  to 
thee,  reverently  and  devoutly  to  bow  before  thee 
in  humble  worship,  to  implore  thee  for  the 
things  we  need,  and  cast  ourselves  upon  thy  al- 
mighty arm. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  pleasant  day,  for  its 
blessed  charities,  for  its  kind  and  gentle  man- 
ners, customs,  and  habits,  and  we  thank  thee  for 
the  blessing  it  brings  to  the  common  family  of 
man,  to  all  who  keep  it,  to  all  who  are  wise  of 
heart  and  pure  in  their  feelings,  and  who  accept 
its  enjoyments,  its  consecrated  opportunities  for 
prayer  and  song  and  teaching,  and  reverent  act 
of  worship  and  bowing  down  before  thee. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  all  the  people  to- 
night, and  wherever  the  gentle  currents  of  the 
evening  air  draw  around  a  dwelling,  there  let 
gentle  affection,  pure  desires  have  kingdom  and 
sway.  Watch  with  those  who  watch,  wait  with 
11 


those  who  wait,  give  cheerfulness  and  gladness 
to  those  who  are  cheerful  and  glad  with  pure 
hearts,  make  the  pillow  of  little  children,  who 
will  sleep  well  in  thy  care,  smooth  the  bed  of  the 
weary,  of  the  sick,  of  the  dying,  and  let  all  the 
people  be  blessed  in  thy  goodness,  thy  wisdom, 
and  thy  love.  Forget  our  sins,  and  help  us  with 
sincere  purpose  to  quit  them,  to  give  them  into 
the  past,  and  free  us  by  thy  great  Spirit  and  thy 
goodness  from  the  past,  and  let  us  be  ever  living 
now  in  the  new  present  and  coming  future, 
where  hope  and  joy  and  gladness  invite  us,  and 
where  we  shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom  of  eter- 
nal power,  grace,  and  glory. 

Almighty  God,  let  thy  blessing  be  as  broad 
and  wide  as  the  shadow  of  the  night,  as  the 
beams  of  the  day,  resting  upon  thy  common  hu- 
man family,  the  common  race  of  man,  in  all 
climes,  in  all  countries,  in  all  nations,  and  wher- 
ever man  lives,  even  though  he  lives  in  darkness 
and  ignorance,  if  he  lives  according  to  the  best 
light  that  is  in  him,  may  he  be  received  by  thee, 
the  universal  Father.  Let  thy  blessing  be  upon 
us  here  now,  upon  each  one  according  to  his 
wants,  to  his  experience,  to  his  doubts  and  his 
failings,  and  let  faith  have  its  victory.  Let  the 
Spirit  and  the  life  of  God  in  us  subdue  all  other 
powers,  and  let  thy  kingdom  come  and  be  set  up 
forever  and  ever.  AMEN. 
12 


Almighty  God,  our  Father,  let  thy  blessing 
descend  on  us  now,  and  as  we  go  each  one  to  his 
home,  may  we  go  with  deeper  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings and  with  pure  affections;  with  bright  and 
strong  hopes  and  confirmed  courage,  and  a  di- 
vine resolution  to  live  according  to  the  best  that 
is  in  us,  and  may  we  put  our  thoughts  into  daily 
practice  and  living.  AMEN. 


13 


FEBEUAKY  23,   1889  -  MOBNING 

0  INFINITE  AND  HOLY  ONE,  almighty  Provi- 
dence of  our  lives,  inspirer  of  our  souls,  the 
beginning  of  reason  and  the  end  of  faith,  we 
implore  thee  now  by  thy  gracious  Spirit  to 
come  nigh  unto  thine  own,  and  lead  forth 
thy  flock  in  green  pastures  beside  still  waters 
of  divine  grace.  "We  were  glad  when  our 
companions  said  to  us,  Let  us  go  up  into 
the  house  of  the  Lord."  We  are  come  in 
the  gentle  light  of  day;  the  sun  shines  bright 
and  fair;  our  lives  are  blessed  and  our  hearts 
are  inspired  by  thy  gracious  Spirit.  We  come 
as  we  are,  with  all  our  earthly  burdens ;  we  come 
as  we  are,  with  all  our  earthly  joys,  with  all  the 
hopes  that  thy  Spirit  has  kindled  in  our  breasts, 
thou  knowing  us  better  than  we  know  our- 
selves,— our  inward  thoughts,  our  veriest  pur- 
pose, our  desires,  our  pain,  our  will,  are  all 
known  to  thee.  Pity  our  weakness;  enlighten 
our  darkness;  confirm  our  feeble  strength  by 
thine  own  might;  and  let  thy  children  rise  up 
and  sit  down  and  lift  up  their  voice  in  gracious 
14 


benediction  and  praise  and  blessing  to  thee,  our 
God. 

0  Holy  One,  Infinite  Father,  we  invoke  thy 
blessing  on  us  always.  And  renew  in  our  hearts 
our  sense  of  dependence  on  thee,  our  sense  of 
filial  trust  in  thee.  Consecrate  unto  us  all  our 
experience ;  what  is  dark  do  thou  illumine  in  thy 
time ;  what  is  a  deep  trial,  or  pain,  or  anguish  of 
any  sort,  do  thou  relieve  and  assuage ;  and  gen- 
tly bless  with  tender  and  holy  consolations  and 
reverent  feelings  of  how  little  we  know  of  the 
mystery  of  thy  ways,  the  mystery  of  thy  provi- 
dences, the  teachings  and  the  wonders  of  thy 
grace. 

Almighty  God,  we  thank  thee  for  our  daily 
affairs;  for  our  constant  occupations;  for  that 
which  we  find  within  our  own  dwellings  and  in 
the  world  of  men  to  occupy  our  minds,  our 
hearts,  and  our  hands.  Give  prosperity  to  our 
honorable  industry,  to  our  intelligent  service; 
and  in  doing  good,  in  walking  humbly,  and  in 
loving  mercy,  may  we  find  the  abundant  reward 
and  peace  of  thy  divine  kingdom. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  we  would  fix  our 
mind  and  thoughts  on  thee  now.  We  would  think 
what  thou  art  in  thine  ineffable  beauty  and  per- 
fectness;  and  we  would  feel  that  thou  hast  in- 
spired us  with  a  kindred  nature  to  thine  own, 
and  called  us  to  the  great  calling  to  be  the  sons 

15 


of  God.  May  our  minds  be  inspired  and  filled 
with  reverence  and  devout  feeling  and  holy  pur- 
pose of  obedience  and  trust  in  thee.  And  as  we 
stand  upon  the  great  eminence — the  great 
eminence  of  our  Mount  Zion,  the  city  of  our 
God — and  look  abroad  over  all  the  earthly  scene 
of  our  experience, — its  mystery,  its  trial,  its 
abundant  salvation,  its  kindness,  its  times  of  dis- 
tress,— may  we  see  in  it  all  and  through  all  a 
wondrous  leading,  a  divine  hand,  a  holy  and 
protecting  care. 

Let  thy  blessing,  Holy  Father,  be  upon  all  to- 
day, as  wide  as  the  beams  of  the  sun.  Let  thy 
gracious  benediction  be  shed  abroad.  Guide  with 
thy  strong  and  merciful  hand ;  keep  by  thy  pure 
Spirit ;  and  save  all  by  thy  eternal  grace. 

Hear  our  prayer;  forgive  our  sins,  and  re- 
move them  from  us  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the 
west.  And  as  our  earthly  experience  increases, 
may  that  experience  stretch  over  into  unknown 
worlds,  into  untried  scenes;  and  may  divine 
wonder  and  curiosity  enamor  our  hearts  of  what 
God  has  yet  to  reveal  to  his  children.  AMEN. 


16 


FEBBUAKY   23,   1889  -  EVENING 

0  GOD,  thou  Light  of  our  light,  and  Life  of  our 
life,  we  adore  thy  providence  in  the  world  of 
men,  thy  teaching,  thy  wisdom,  and  thy  grace. 
And  we  give  thee  blessing  and  thanksgiving  that 
all  along  the  line  of  human  ages  thou  hast  had 
martyrs  and  confessors,  saints  and  teachers,  who 
have  stood  as  the  light  and  the  ensamples  of 
mankind,  the  interpreters  of  thy  word,  the  com- 
munion of  thy  saints.  We  thank  thee  that  we 
have  entered  into  their  heritage;  that  we  have 
received  the  wisdom,  the  truth,  and  the  grace  of 
those  who  have  gone  before  us.  And  we  pray 
that  in  our  minds  and  hearts  the  Dayspring 
from  on  high  may  arise  continually,  leading  us 
into  a  nobler  and  more  beautiful  and  a  sweeter 
life.  We  acknowledge  thy  providence  with  rever- 
ence and  holy  fear  in  all  the  teachings  of  the 
Christian  Church,  in  all  its  vicissitudes,  in  all  its 
tumults,  and  toils  and  trials  and  dangers;  and 
that,  above  all  wreck  of  human  fortunes  and 
human  failings,  thy  Spirit  has  kept  on  its 
mighty  way,  enchurching  itself  in  mankind. 
Let  thy  blessing,  Almighty  God,  be  upon  all 
17 


thy  children  everywhere  who  humbly  and  rever- 
ently think  of  thee ;  in  every  race  and  clime  and 
nation;  in  every  division  of  the  Christian 
Church ;  in  every  division  of  the  Church  Univer- 
sal of  God,  the  Maker  and  Inspirer  of  all. 

We  thank  thee,  our  Father  in  heaven,  for  all 
our  blessings — the  blessings  of  human  society,  of 
civilization;  for  Christian  teaching,  Christian 
knowledge,  and  Christian  hopes.  And,  Almighty 
One,  let  thy  goodness  be  upon  all  everywhere, 
according  to  their  need.  Lift  up  those  who  are 
fallen;  comfort  those  who  are  sorrowing  and 
broken-hearted;  enlighten  the  darkness  of  those 
who  are  benighted;  and  lead  all  gently  by  thy 
hand  to  better  things  and  to  the  fulfillment  of 
better  hopes.  And  so  may  all  thy  people  be 
blessed  in  thee  now  and  hereafter  and  forever. 
AMEN. 


18 


MAECH    3,    1889  —  MOENING 

THE  day  is  bright  and  fair,  the  world  is  filled 
with  the  glory  of  the  sun,  and  thy  Spirit,  0  God, 
goes  forth  inspiring  the  hearts  of  all  thy  chil- 
dren, and  we  come,  beckoned  by  divine  signals, 
led  on  by  holy  hands,  with  our  feelings  drawn 
toward  thee,  to  our  place  of  prayer.  Come  to 
thy  people  as  thou  ever  dost  and  hast  done  from 
all  time ;  come  to  us  as  to  thy  own,  and  give  thy 
people  peace.  Forgive  our  sins;  subdue  our 
minds  to  patience,  to  penitence,  to  prayer;  lift 
up  our  hearts  in  holy  gratitude  with  exultation 
of  soul  and  bowing  down  and  worship,  and  ris- 
ing up  before  thee  with  awe  and  gladness  and 
terrible  reverence  and  comfort  at  thy  goodness 
by  thee  manifested  to  thy  children. 

We  always  thank  thee,  Almighty  One,  we  al- 
ways bless  thee,  thou  infinite  and  eternal  God, 
and  with  holy  patience  and  penitence  and  prayer 
we  lift  up  our  hearts  to  thee  now.  Let  thy  bene- 
diction be  upon  the  homes  we  have  left  for  an 
hour  to  come  to  this  our  house  of  God.  Conse- 
crate them,  consecrate  this.  Wherever  our 
thoughts,  flying  on  wings  of  imagination  and 
love,  rest  down  upon  those  whom  we  would  bless 
19 


with  thy  blessing,  there  let  thy  love  go  inspiring, 
and  thy  almighty  hand  sustaining,  comforting, 
and  supporting.  Let  thy  tender  benediction  be 
upon  all  thy  suffering  ones.  Deal  kindly  with 
the  wretched,  the  poor,  the  weak,  the  wicked,  the 
wise,  the  good,  the  true.  Thou  knowest,  Almighty 
One,  our  wants;  thou  knowest  and  thou  canst 
supply  them  by  thy  Spirit  and  by  thy  grace  and 
thy  power.  Subdue  our  hearts  to  thee.  Teach 
us  wisdom  by  thy  divine  grace  and  Spirit.  Lead 
us  in  plain  paths  of  duty  and  consecrate  to  our 
minds  and  hearts  our  daily  work  of  coming  be- 
fore thee,  and  as  we  go  forth  at  any  hour  of  the 
day,  in  the  morning,  at  mid-day  or  evening,  may 
the  rising  of  a  new  life,  the  satisfaction  of  mid- 
day strength,  the  tender  thoughts  of  the  evening 
glories,  fill  our  hearts  with  the  divine  presence 
and  holy  companionship  of  God  in  heaven. 
AMEN. 

0  God,  thou  Mysterious  One,  who  dost  move 
on  our  right  hand  and  on  our  left,  ever  present, 
terrible,  lovely  Spirit,  fill  our  hearts  with  all 
things  true  and  good  and  beautiful ;  let  us  dream 
and  wonder  and  imagine  of  thee;  let  us  be  lost 
in  thy  own  infinite  glory,  manifested  on  earth 
beneath  and  in  heaven  above;  and  may  thy 
indwelling  Spirit  kindle  our  hearts  to  all  medi- 
tation, prayer,  and  peace.  AMEN. 
20 


MAECH   3,   1889 -EVENING 

LET  thy  blessing  be  upon  us,  0  God,  according  to 
thy  tender  mercies  and  thy  loving-kindness,  ac- 
cording to  thy  wisdom  and  thy  grace.  We  thank 
thee  for  the  pleasant  day,  for  the  gentle  night, 
for  thy  hand  that  supports  the  morning  and 
evening,  that  leads  forth  the  glory  of  noonday 
and  the  majesty  of  night;  in  all  we  see  thy  pow- 
er, thy  wisdom,  thy  goodness,  thy  love. 

We  come  each  one  from  his  place  and  duty 
and  his  dwelling  to  this  our  common  meeting- 
place  of  prayer  and  teaching  and  song.  Let  our 
hearts  be  in  devout  mood  of  pure  feeling,  of 
clear  intelligence,  of  devout  faith  and  earnest 
hope.  We  give  thee  gratitude  for  all  our  bless- 
ings, the  blessings  of  thy  word  spoken  in  all 
places  of  thy  domain  and  of  thy  kingdom,  and 
spoken  in  all  times  and  all  ages,  among  every 
race  of  man  in  the  common  human  earth. 

Teach  us  by  thy  Spirit;  inspire  and  refresh 
the  light  of  reason,  a  ray  from  thyself;  purify 
our  affections  by  thy  almighty  Spirit  that  ever 
goes  forth  among  the  children  of  men.  Chastise, 
rebuke,  reprove,  cheer,  encourage,  lift  up,  and 
21 


bless  thy  people  forever  and  ever.  Forgive  us 
our  sins  and  help  us  with  thee  to  put  them  as  far 
from  us  as  the  east  'is  from  the  west.  Let  thy 
blessing  be  upon  all  manner  and  condition  and 
fortunes  of  men.  Cheer  up  those  who  are  in 
great  distress  and  perplexity  of  mind  or  body  or 
heart ;  give  them  wisdom,  give  them  self-control. 
Make  the  pillow  of  the  dying  and  lead  them 
gently  on.  Lift  up  those  who  are  fallen ;  and  so 
by  thy  grace  and  thy  goodness  be  ever  and  ever 
more  for  thy  people.  AMEN. 


22 


MAECH  10,  1889 

GOD,  our  Father,  Infinite  Spirit,  Holy  One,  we 
come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer ;  again  we  quit 
the  usual  cares  and  duties  of  labor  and  of  life,  to 
come  here  to  remind  thee  of  our  gratitude  for 
our  divine  calling  in  God,  our  Father,  and  we 
leave  our  earthly  dwellings  for  this  our  place  of 
prayer  and  worship,  our  remembrance  of  our 
"  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens. ' '  We  come  with  gladness  and  with  joy, 
with  awful  mirth  and  song ;  we  come  with  grati- 
tude and  penitence  and  contrition,  and  bowing 
down  and  rising  up  to  worship  thee,  our  Maker. 

Forgive  our  sins ;  remove  them  from  us  as  far 
as  the  east  is  from  tne  west.  Pity  our  weak- 
nesses, overcome  our  doubts,  strengthen  our 
faith,  and  let  us  be  glad  in  thee,  our  God,  our 
Kefuge,  our  Eock. 

We  thank  thee  always  when  we  come  together 
in  our  place  of  prayer  for  the  common  blessings 
of  thy  providence ;  that  we  have  food  and  cloth- 
ing and  comfortable  shelter;  that  in  all  things 
thy  hand  is  bountiful,  thy  mercy  is  great,  and 
thy  loving-kindness  everlasting.  We  thank  thee, 


Almighty  One,  that  in  the  midst  of  perplexities 
and  doubts  and  fears,  thy  unspeakable  gift  has 
never  been  taken  from  us,  the  gift  of  thinking 
and  of  believing  that  somehow,  in  some  way, 
within  some  time,  thy  eternal  good-will  is  ever 
working  and  will  work  for  the  human  family. 
We  thank  thee  for  the  ever-increasing  experience 
of  our  hearts  which  has  increased  our  faith  in 
thy  Spirit  and  thy  grace,  which  teaches  us  to 
overcome  all  the  contradiction,  the  violence,  the 
guessing,  the  uncertainty,  the  suspicion  of  the 
world  and  to  believe  that  thou  hast  o'er  every 
child  of  man  an  eternal  "Yea";  that  thou  hast 
set  in  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  an  answer  to  all 
the  great  hopes,  the  aspirations,  the  feelings,  the 
fears,  and  the  loves  of  the  human  soul.  May  we 
enter  into  that  great  inheritance,  and  as  thou 
hast  given  us  examples  here  and  there  in  the 
hearts  of  the  good,  may  we  there  behold  its 
beauty  and  accept  its  inspired  power  and  grace. 
We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  that  wherever 
we  are  on  earth,  wherever  our  friends  are  on 
earth  or  sea,  they  are  at  home  with  God ;  that  no 
distance  of  land  or  ocean,  of  latitudes  or  longi- 
tudes separate  from  thy  almighty  protection  or 
from  thine  inspiring  Spirit;  and  we  commend, 
O  God,  to  thee  those  whom  we  love  and  think  of 
here  and  there.  We  pray  for  all  thy  common 
human  family  in  earth  or  in  heaven;  that  every 


race  and  tribe  and  soul  of  man,  in  every  age  and 
every  nation  and  on  the  far-off  islands  of  the 
sea,  may  be  all  enfolded  in  thy  almighty  power, 
thy  gracious  and  loving  providence,  and  inspired 
by  thy  loving,  tender  Spirit.  Let  thy  blessing  be 
upon  us  now;  let  thy  Spirit  be  infused  in  com- 
mon communion  and  our  minds  set  free  in  the 
larger  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God,  and  know 
what  it  is  to  love  God,  to  love  one  another,  and 
feel  that  we  belong  to  thy  common  human 
family.  AMEN. 


MAECH  17,   1889  — MOENING 

0  HOLY  FATHER,  Almighty  One,  our  wants  are 
ever  new  and  our  life  is  ever  received  afresh 
from  thy  hands  and  thy  Spirit,  and  we  come  to 
our  place  of  prayer  to  pour  out  our  hearts  to 
thee  in  devout  gratitude,  in  penitence,  in  holy 
joy  and  awful  gladness.  We  thank  thee  for  thy 
protecting  care,  for  thy  almighty  hand  ever 
stretched  out  to  hold  us  up,  for  thy  love  that 
ever  encompasseth  us,  and  for  thy  holy  provi- 
dence, infinite,  merciful,  gracious,  and  kind ;  and 
we  thank  thee  that  amid  all  the  mystery  and 
pain  of  life  we  have  a  confidence  in  thee  our 
Maker  that  thou  knowest  all  things,  and  when 
we  are  involved  in  great  trouble  or  care  or  per- 
plexity and  all  the  waves  of  affliction  go  over  us, 
we  thank  thee  that  we  do  still  have  great  confi- 
dence that  thou  knowest  all,  thou  doest  all,  thou 
seest  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  that  no 
hurt  can  come  to  thy  beloved. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  that  in  the 
days  that  have  past  since  we  met  here  we  have 
been  able  to  go  over  our  usual  cares  and  business 
with  the  world.  If  the  world  has  gone  evenly 

26 


and  well  with  us,  we  thank  thee ;  if  adversity  or 
trial  or  pain  has  overtaken  us,  and  we  have 
been  comforted  by  the  thought  of  our  ignorance 
and  weakness  and  thy  goodness  and  greatness, 
and  have  found  refuge  in  the  Eternal  Rock  from 
storm  and  tempest,  we  thank  thee,  thou  Inspirer 
of  our  hearts.  Give  us  the  grace  and  blessing, 
we  pray  thee,  to  enter  into  thy  divine  kingdom 
more  and  more,  and  that  we  may  feel  the  power 
of  a  superior  world,  that  we  may  live  in  that 
world  to-day,  and  that  all  our  affairs,  our  busi- 
ness, our  daily  actions,  our  exchange  of  commun- 
ion with  our  fellow  men,  may  be  so  conducted  as 
to  bring  back  more  and  more  that  kingdom  of 
power  and  grace  and  love. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  let  thy  blessing  be 
upon  all  thy  children  to-day.  Bless  thine  heri- 
tage and  lift  up  thy  people  forever  and  ever. 
Work  among  the  nations  and  the  people  of  the 
world.  Let  thy  benediction  be  upon  the  rulers 
and  kings  of  mankind,  upon  the  people  far  and 
near,  and  may  prosperity,  peace,  and  heavenly 
benediction  descend  upon  the  common  family  of 
man.  Let  thy  blessing  be,  as  ours,  upon  our  be- 
loved wherever  they  are,  on  sea  or  land,  at  home 
or  abroad.  May  they  be  upheld  by  thy  care  and 
protection  and  inspired  by  thy  Spirit.  Pity  the 
poor,  the  afflicted,  the  weak,  the  wandering,  or 
the  wicked,  and  temper  thy  providence  by  holy 

27 


chastisements,  by  tender  pity  and  compassionate 
love,  and  bring  all  thy  people  to  dwell  in  the 
tabernacle  of  the  Lord.  AMEN. 

0  thou  Inspirer  of  our  hearts,  confirm  us  now 
in  those  things  that  we  do  most  truly  feel  and  be- 
lieve. Help  us  to  put  our  best  thoughts  and 
purest  feelings  into  practice  in  the  walk  of  life, 
and  in  the  humblest  work  and  duties  and  cares 
to  find  there  a  teaching  of  thy  will,  thy  purpose, 
and  thy  Spirit.  Give  us  a  goodly  prosperity  and 
give  us  fortitude  to  bear  adversity ;  and  whether 
it  be  prosperity  or  adversity,  may  we  win  the 
great  victories  of  human  life,  the  victories  of 
purer  souls,  of  eternal  glory  and  eternal  power. 
AMEN. 


MAECH   17,    1889  — EVENING 

HOLY  FATHER,  Almighty  One,  hear  the  prayers 
of  thy  children  now,  and  come  to  thine  own  with 
blessing  and  peace.  We  reverence  thee  and  bow 
down  in  awe  and  holy  fear ;  we  lift  up  our  voice 
in  devout  song  and  praise  and  prayer.  Pity  our 
weakness,  help  our  ignorance,  heal  our  doubts 
and  our  wounds  of  mind  and  heart,  and  give  thy 
people  everlasting  peace  and  trust  and  comfort 
and  love.  If  any  of  thy  people  are  in  heavy 
trial,  if  they  are  alone  in  Gethsemane,  be  with 
them  there  with  thy  power  and  Spirit  and  lift 
them  up  and  save  them  forever  and  ever.  And 
if  the  cup  may  not  pass  from  them,  may  they  be 
enabled  to  say  from  hearts  enriched  by  obedi- 
ence and  faith,  ' '  Not  my  will  but  thine  be  done. ' ' 
We  rejoice,  Almighty  God,  in  the  themes  of 
thy  eternal  truth,  that  truth  which  thou  hast  set 
in  the  nature  of  man,  in  the  world  around  us,  in 
the  works  of  thy  hands ;  and  hast  illustrated  by 
the  lives  of  prophets  and  martyrs  and  saints, 
and  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ.  We  thank  thee 
that  that  truth,  rising  upon  the  world,  never 
sets;  that  it  knows  no  eclipse  of  its  increasing 

29 


glory,  but  stands  higher  and  higher  until  its 
beams  shall  illumine  the  whole  world. 

Confer  upon  us,  0  thou  Almighty  Spirit,  the 
spirit  of  truth,  the  love  of  what  is,  the  joy  of  thy 
commandments,  the  beauty  of  thy  love,  and  let 
us  in  our  daily  lives,  with  simplicity  of  heart 
and  purity  of  thought,  seek  to  know  thee,  to 
know  our  own  being,  our  inmost  purpose;  and 
may  our  thoughts  and  our  purpose  be  alike  con- 
secrated to  thee. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  in  every  heart  of  man ;  let 
it  be  in  every  human  dwelling,  resting  down  in 
holy  peace  upon  little  children,  upon  youth, 
upon  mature  age  and  manhood,  and  upon  the 
aged  in  years,  and  let  all  thy  children  be  blessed 
in  thee,  their  Father  in  heaven.  AMEN. 


30 


MAECH    24,    1889  — MORNING 

0  THOU  INFINITE  AND  HOLY  ONE,  Maker  of  all 
things,  and  inspirer  of  all  souls,  who  dwellest  in 
thy  own  eternal  glory,  in  thy  own  eternal 
strength,  who  art  never  moved,  who  alone  art 
from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  and  thou  who 
alone  in  thyself  art  great,  we,  thy  children,  come 
again  to  offer  our  prayers.  We  lift  up  our  hearts 
to  thee  in  all  our  wants  and  weakness  and  our 
sins,  and  we  implore  thee  to  forgive  these  and  to 
supply  those  from  thy  abundant  grace,  thy  ten- 
der mercy,  and  thy  bounteous  glory.  We  come 
with  all  the  daily  wants  and  experiences  of  our 
lives,  led  forth  as  though  by  thy  holy  providence, 
made  glad  and  happy  in  the  light  of  day,  in  the 
genial  presence  of  friends,  with  enough  of  this 
world's  goods  and  to  spare.  Some,  it  may  be, 
are  afflicted,  are  sorrowful  and  broken-hearted; 
some  indeed  are  discouraged,  it  may  be,  and  per- 
plexed beyond  their  endurance;  and  we  pray, 
Holy  Father,  let  thy  infinite  knowledge,  thy 
tender  love,  that  goodness  and  love  which  we 
implore,  mete  out  all  that  is  wanted  to  every 
pure  heart. 

31 


Almighty  God,  let  us  thank  thee  now  for  all 
common  gifts  received  from  thee.  We  always 
want,  we  always  shall  want  from  thee,  and  we 
would  not  be  bereft  of  our  wants.  We  all  ever 
desire  thee  more  and  more.  We  would  be  par- 
takers of  thy  eternal  beauty  and  glory  more  and 
more,  and  the  more  we  want  the  more  thou  wilt 
supply.  We  give  thee  blessing,  Almighty  God, 
and  gratitude  that  in  the  usual  circumstances  of 
life  we  have  been  permitted  to  go  through  an- 
other week,  with  our  business  with  the  world, 
blessed  by  thee,  if  we  have  made  that  business 
an  honorable  service  to  one  another,  to  men,  and 
to  God,  if  in  the  humblest  duties  of  our  life  we 
have  manifested  to  the  world  that  we  have  had 
such  thoughts  of  thee  as  kept  our  hearts  in  awe 
and  lifted  us  up  in  joy  and  peace. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  the  com- 
mon benefits  and  light  of  thy  love  and  grace,  and 
power  and  providence,  upon  our  common  land 
and  country ;  for  all  the  men  of  honor,  for  all  the 
noble  records  of  the  past  treasury  of  our  history, 
the  treasury  of  God's  will,  the  treasury  of  hu- 
man strife  and  human  mercies  in  which  the  good 
has  sustained  itself  above  the  evil,  and  brought 
a  blessing  to  mankind;  in  these  things  we  re- 
vere thy  will  and  thy  goodness  forever  and  ever. 

And  now,  Holy  Father,  what  wait  we  for? 
Let  thy  blessing  come.  Let  thy  Spirit  be  with  thy 

32 


beloved.  Consecrate  us  to  each  other,  to  thyself, 
and  may  we  be  prepared  by  service,  by  service 
here  in  thy  house,  to  give  thee  service  wherever 
we  are  abroad  in  the  world  of  men ;  and  whether 
here  or  there,  on  land  or  sea,  in  thick-peopled 
cities  or  wide  barren  deserts,  may  thy  presence 
be  with  us,  and  may  it  be  as  near  to  us  from 
earth  to  heaven  as  from  here  to  there,  and  may 
we  be  ever  near  thy  love.  AMEN. 

God,  our  Father,  inspire  the  hearts  of  thy  chil- 
dren with  the  best  they  believe  and  the  best  they 
know,  and  let  thy  eternal  beauty,  strength,  and 
loveliness  be  manifested  to  our  hearts;  and  let 
that  strength  and  beauty  and  loveliness  be  in  us 
and  lift  us  up  forever  and  ever.  AMEN. 


MAECH   24,   1889 -EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  thou  joy  and  gladness  of  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  Maker  and  Inspirer  of  man- 
kind and  faithful  Providence  of  our  lives,  gra- 
cious, merciful,  and  gentle  Teacher,  day  by  day 
we  come  to  thee  with  rejoicing  song  and  glad 
refrain  and  reverent  prayer,  and  from  the  holy 
height  of  devout  thought  and  feeling  and  con- 
templation, we  would  look  down  o'er  all  the 
scene  of  thy  goodness,  thy  power,  thy  wisdom, 
and  thy  love.  Thou  hast  given  no  time  when 
thou  hast  not  had  on  earth  witnesses  of  thyself, 
and  when  man  was  a  child  thou  didst  fold  him  in 
thy  arms  and  carry  him  upon  thy  bosom,  and 
leading  him  by  the  hand  send  him  forth  upon 
the  world  to  subdue  it,  to  conquer  it,  and  to  win 
unto  himself  everlasting  life  in  thee,  in  whom 
alone  is  immortality.  We  revere  thy  providence, 
we  love  thy  grace,  and  we  bow  in  humble  adora- 
tion, in  penitence  and  deep  sense  of  need,  in  thy 
holy  presence. 

We  ask  thy  blessing  upon  us,  Almighty  God, 
that  by  that  Spirit  whereby  thou  dost  awaken 
the  souls  of  men  and  kindle  in  their  hearts  the 

34 


great  and  illustrious  sentiments  of  our  nature 
thou  wilt  increase  our  human  sympathy,  our 
breadth  of  intellectual  and  moral  feeling,  the 
eternal  power  and  life  of  our  faith,  that  we  may 
receive  and  feel  and  know  how  we  are  joined  to 
the  common  lot  of  man,  to  the  common  destiny 
of  thy  human  world,  and  that  if  we  are 
privileged  above  some,  our  duty,  our  obligation 
is  increased  and  our  own  responsibility  to  thee 
and  to  one  another  is  greater  and  greater. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  we  ask  thy  bless- 
ing to-night  upon  all  thy  people  wherever  they 
may  be,  upon  all  nations  and  races  and  children 
of  men,  upon  our  common  country,  upon  the 
commonwealth  to  which  we  belong,  here  upon 
the  city  in  which  we  dwell;  and  let  thy  protect- 
ing providence  be  over  all  the  weak,  the  wander- 
ing, the  wicked,  the  foolish,  the  wise,  the  true, 
the  good.  Chastise  with  wise  severity  and  rebuke 
with  holy  retribution,  and  let  thy  Divine  Spirit 
go  forth  and  adjust  itself  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  confirm  now  in  our  hearts 
whatever  truth  we  have.  Let  that  truth  be 
settled  on  an  eternal  base.  Let  thy  Spirit  shine, 
thy  grace  descend,  and  let  our  minds  and  hearts 
rise  in  eternal  strength  and  glory  and  peace. 
AMEN. 


MAECH    31,    1889  —  MORNING 

GOD,  our  Father,  Infinite  Spirit,  Almighty  Being, 
we  are  here  again  in  our  place  of  prayer ;  the  sun 
shines  bright,  the  day  is  glorious,  all  creation  is 
glad,  and  the  earth  is  filled  with  thy  power  and 
glory  and  beauty  and  goodness.  Thy  providence, 
wiser  than  our  hearts  and  more  patient  than  our 
reason,  brings  about  the  regular  succession  of 
day  and  night,  of  labor  and  rest,  and  we  are 
come  to  our  place  of  adoration,  prayer,  peni- 
tence, and  peace,  and  ask  thee  that  all  the  hearts 
of  thy  children  may  be  blessed. 

Thy  tender  care,  thy  paternal  love,  thy  wis- 
dom, thy  eternal  righteousness,  thy  awful  retri- 
bution,— let  these  be  the  dwelling-place  of  our 
thoughts,  the  rest  of  our  hearts,  the  peace  of  our 
conscience ;  and  as  we  pray,  for  ourselves  here,  a 
worshiping  company,  let  thy  benediction,  thy 
grace,  thy  wisdom,  and  thy  power,  go  forth  o'er 
all  the  earth  to  gladden,  refresh,  sustain,  and 
encourage  the  heart  of  man.  Be  with  all  those 
who  are  in  great  distresses,  who  are  walking  in 
the  midst  of  sharp  trials  and  anxieties  and  fears, 
and  who  know  not  what  a  day  or  an  hour  may 


bring;  may  they  commit  the  keeping  of  their 
souls  to  God  as  to  a  faithful  Creator,  and  know 
that  no  harm  can  come  to  thy  beloved. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  in  the  dwellings  we  have 
left  while  we  come  to  this  our  house  of  God. 
Let  those  dwellings  be  consecrated  by  a  pure 
spirit,  by  sweet  and  lovely  affection,  by  patient 
will,  by  tender  love,  and  may  they  be  to  us  our 
best  symbol  and  expression  of  the  divine  king- 
dom of  God. 

And  now,  Holy  Father,  come  to  thine  own 
here,  to  thy  common  human  family,  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  the  people  of  the  country,  the  citi- 
zens of  the  towns,  the  dwellers  in  the  house  of 
prayer,  and  in  thine  abundant  grace  and  al- 
mighty power  let  all  be  blessed.  AMEN. 

Holy  Father,  move  our  hearts  by  thy  Spirit 
that  we  may  learn  quickly  thy  truth  and  thy 
presence,  and  may  we  behold  in  the  world  which 
thou  hast  made  the  manifestation  of  thy  eternal 
beauty  and  glory,  and  may  our  hearts  and  minds 
be  transfigured  more  and  more  into  that  beauty 
and  glory  that  is  everlasting  and  forever  and 
ever. 

Let  thy  peace  and  thy  blessing  be  upon  us. 
Go  with  us  where  we  go ;  stay  with  us  where  we 
stay ;  come  with  us  where  we  come ;  and  in  thine 
eternal  presence  let  us  live.    AMEN. 
37 


MAECH   31,   1889 -EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  our  Father,  we  give  thee  blessing 
for  the  pleasant  day,  for  the  genial  night,  the 
calm  fresh  air,  the  night  heavens  with  all  their 
glory,  and  the  peace  that  gathers  around  our 
earthly  dwellings.  Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  us  ac- 
cording to  our  need.  Supply  well  and  abundant- 
ly by  thy  Spirit  all  our  wants,  and  may  we  be 
blessed  with  that  better  and  diviner  knowledge, 
the  blessing  of  knowing  our  wants,  our  wants  of 
one  another,  our  wants  of  thee,  our  Maker  and 
Inspirer. 

May  the  spirit  of  truth  dwell  in  our  hearts  so 
that  we  shall  love  and  revere  and  honor  what- 
ever thou  hast  done,  whatever  thou  hast  said, 
and  whatever  places  or  footsteps  thou  hast  hal- 
lowed by  thy  presence  and  power  and  providence 
and  life  in  the  world  of  men. 

Almighty  One,  thou  who  turnest  the  hearts  of 
princes  as  the  rivers  of  water  are  turned,  let  thy 
word  have  free  course  and  be  glorified  upon  the 
earth ;  let  thy  Church,  the  Church  of  the  Living 
God,  be  lifted  up  with  towers  and  bulwarks  and 
defenses,  and  let  thy  Spirit  be  with  thy  people, 

38 


and  thy  providence  ever  guide  them  on  and  on 
to  the  unknown  land  whither  thou  wilt  lead 
them.  Let  our  patient  minds  be  constant  in 
duty,  faithful  in  every  trust,  honorable  and 
pure  in  every  relation. 

May  we  find,  0  God,  that  thy  word  is  not 
lifted  up  on  high  that  we  should  send  for  it 
there,  that  it  is  not  in  the  deep  that  we  should 
send  for  it  there,  but  "Lo,  it  is  nigh  thee,  even 
upon  thy  lips  and  in  thy  mouth,"  the  word  of 
faith,  the  word  of  that  humble  faith  in  God,  our 
Maker,  in  Jesus  Christ,  thy  Son,  the  inspiration, 
the  life  of  thy  people. 

Let  thy  tender,  pitying  care  be  over  all  thy 
people,  over  those  who  are  in  distress,  those  who 
are  in  happiness  and  joy.  May  all  be  wisely 
taught  and  chastened  and  blessed  in  thee ;  and  as 
years  increase  and  time  runs  on  in  its  ceaseless 
beat,  may  we  all  grow  wiser,  better,  tenderer  of 
heart,  more  genial  in  feeling,  and  more  righteous 
in  will.  AMEN. 


APEIL  7,  1889  -  MOBNING 

0  FATHER  ALMIGHTY,  thou  in  whose  hand  we 
live,  whose  inspiration  is  the  source  of  reason, 
faith,  and  love;  the  day  is  bright  and  fair,  the 
sun  in  strong,  the  ocean  rolls  as  in  the  hollow  of 
thy  hand,  the  mountains  stand  fast  as  by  thy 
eternal  word ;  thy  law  is  stamped  in  letters  of 
life  upon  all  things  that  thou  hast  made,  from 
the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  and  the  revolving 
earth  to  all  varieties  of  trees  and  blooming 
flowers,  and  thy  word  and  thy  power  and  thy 
law  are  written  in  our  hearts.  With  reverence, 
with  holy  fear,  with  awful  gladness  and  mirth 
we  call  upon  thy  name.  We  speak  to  thy  heart, 
we  pray  to  thy  love.  We  implore  thy  wisdom 
and  repose  in  thy  almighty  goodness,  and  as  we 
come  to  our  place  of  prayer  we  think  in  our 
inmost  souls  what  we  really  are, — what  we  are, 
not  as  compared  to  others,  who  may  be  better, 
who  may  be  worse,  but  what  we  are  ourselves  by 
the  temper  of  our  minds,  by  the  purity  of  our 
thoughts,  by  the  direction  of  our  will,  and  by  our 
honest,  sincere,  and  simple  desires  before  God. 
May  we  from  the  depths  of  our  hearts  cry  unto 
40 


thee,  l '  0  God,  search  me,  know  me,  try  my  ways 
and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  ways  in  me,  and 
lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting." 

We  implore  thy  tender  pity  and  forgiveness 
upon  every  contrite  heart,  upon  every  broken 
tender  spirit,  upon  every  promise  of  penitence 
and  every  aspiration  for  a  better  life,  and  as  we 
look  back  clearly  o'er  the  past,  seeing  many 
things  forgotten  that  are  sometimes  revived,  and 
many  things  which  we  would  forget  but  which 
live  with  us  for  a  constant  reproach;  as  we  look 
back  o'er  the  bleak  distances  of  opportunities 
lost,  of  occasions  gone,  of  sins  committed,  0 
Heaven,  let  some  power  of  thy  reviving  grace 
send  a  gleam  of  life  and  beauty  o'er  all  that  past 
and  bring  back  to  us  something  of  the  innocent 
phases  of  life,  something  of  the  loveliness  of 
childhood,  and  create  within  us  some  sentiments 
of  a  childhood's  heart.  Increase  in  our  experi- 
ence those  infinite  and  unsearchable  depths  of 
wisdom  and  love,  and  penitence  and  fear,  and  all 
those  emotions,  experiences,  and  feelings  of  the 
heart  which  reveal  to  us  our  infinite  nature  and 
our  relations  to  God.  Help  us,  we  pray  thee,  to 
bring  such  thoughts,  such  sentiments,  and  such 
truths  into  our  daily  lives  that  we  may  set  our 
houses  and  our  homes  in  the  order  of  the  heaven- 
ly beauty.  Let  childhood  be  blessed  in  them, 
youth  nurtured  and  strengthened  against  all 

41 


temptation  and  wrong,  and  over  all  let  there  be 
gladness  and  beauty  and  reverence  and  fear  of 
thee. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  that  it  may 
be  diffused  abroad  everywhere;  that  thy  good- 
ness shall  be  as  wide  as  the  gleam  of  the  sun; 
that  thy  eternal  good- will,  working  ever  for  thy 
kingdom,  will  work  that  that  kingdom  may  come 
in  our  hearts,  and  through  us  may  it  come  to 
the  world. 

Hear  our  prayers,  forgive  our  sins,  lead  us  by 
thy  hand,  and  bring  us  at  length  to  thy  eternal 
peace  and  power  and  love  and  goodness.  AMEN. 

0  God,  our  Light,  illumine  us  by  thy  Spirit, 
and  drive  out  all  our  poor  conceits  of  knowledge 
and  seeing,  and  reveal  that  inner  glory  and  in- 
spired sight  which  sees  thy  truth,  thy  law,  and 
thy  love.  May  we  be  blessed  in  the  truth, 
strengthened  in  the  law,  and  comforted  and 
blessed  in  the  love.  AMEN. 


APEIL  7,  1889 -EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  FATHER,  we  thank  thee  for  thy  pro- 
tecting care,  thy  holy  providence,  thy  inspiring 
Spirit,  thy  paternal  love.  They  are  expressed 
in  our  lives,  in  the  events  of  every  day,  in  the 
experience  of  our  hearts,  and  in  all  the  great 
sentiments  with  which  thou  hast  blessed  and 
comforted  and  adorned  our  earthly  lot.  We 
thank  thee  that  we  see  in  the  life  of  the  world 
the  home  of  thy  providence,  reminding  us  that 
thy  Spirit  has  been  going  forth  from  the  begin- 
ning and  is  going  and  shall  go  time  without  end. 
For  the  vision  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  so- 
ciety of  perfect  and  exalted  souls  on  earth  and 
in  heaven,  the  hope  of  mankind,  the  destiny  of 
thy  earthly  children,  we  thank  thee,  and  also  for 
all  who  have  ascended  from  this  life  believing 
they  saw  a  distant  light,  the  light  of  a  heavenly 
dwelling,  the  light  of  a  Heavenly  Father's  love; 
and  we  implore  thee  for  thy  gracious  Spirit  to 
increase  our  human  sympathies  that  we  may  be 
able  to  restore  in  our  minds  and  hearts  some- 
thing of  the  experience  of  the  world,  and  have 
our  imaginations  to  go  back  to  the  primeval  age, 
to  the  days  of  the  childhood  of  the  world,  the 

43 


feebleness  of  man's  estate,  his  groping  in  much 
darkness  and  ignorance,  yet  illumined  by  celes- 
tial light;  and  we  may  see  that  great,  that 
mighty  thing,  in  the  human  world,  the  teachings 
and  word  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  Father,  that  thou 
hast  given  us  so  great  occasion  to  be  called  the 
sons  of  God,  and  as  we  endeavor  humbly  to  walk, 
each  one  in  the  station  which  thy  providence  has 
assigned  us,  may  we  find,  each  one  in  his  station, 
service  enough  to  render  unto  thee,  his  God.  May 
we  bring  to  our  daily  affairs,  to  our  life  at  home, 
to  all  the  kindly  charities  of  our  earthly 
thoughts,  may  we  bring  a  refined  and  exalted 
spirit,  a  pure  temper  and  will,  a  cheerful  and 
courageous  heart,  able  to  bear  suffering,  able  to 
bear  heavy  burden;  and  may  we  not  expect  too 
much  from  this  world,  but  expecting  less  may  re- 
ceive more — more  of  thy  Spirit,  more  of  thy  wis- 
dom, and  more  of  that  divine  inheritance  which 
will  stand  us  in  good  stead  in  that  world  to 
which  we  go. 

Almighty  God,  let  thy  blessing  be  upon  all  the 
families  of  the  earth.  Let  it  be  among  the  sick, 
upon  the  country,  upon  all  the  homes  and  dwell- 
ings of  our  fellow  citizens  and  our  neighbors. 
Counsel,  sustain,  and  bless  by  thy  Spirit  and 
providence  all  of  us  and  every  child  of  man. 
AMEN. 

44 


APEIL  14,  1889  —  MOENING 

0  GOD,  our  Father,  Infinite  and  Holy  One,  mys- 
terious, wonderful,  almighty,  we  thank  thee  for 
thy  protecting  care,  thy  strong  and  gentle  provi- 
dence, thy  pure  spirit,  thy  paternal  love ;  and  we 
look  up  to  thee  from  humble  and  devout  hearts 
to  implore  thy  goodness,  to  rest  upon  thine  al- 
mighty arm,  to  give  thee  thanks  and  gratitude 
and  awful  praise  with  gladness  and  holy  mirth 
for  what  thou  art  in  thyself,  in  thine  exceeding 
glory,  for  what  thou  art  to  us  by  thy  providence 
and  love,  and  for  what  thou  art  to  us  in  our  own 
being,  life,  and  actions.  In  thee  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being,  Infinite  Spirit,  Awful 
One,  infinite,  lovely  Father. 

And  as  we  come  in  the  gentle  light  of  a  pleas- 
ant day  again  to  our  place  of  prayer,  we  would 
ascend  into  the  high  places  of  our  experience 
and  down  into  the  depths  of  our  humility  and  we 
would  lift  up  our  voices  to  thee  from  the  depths 
and  from  the  heights;  and  as  we  look  along  all 
the  line  of  our  earthly  way  we  give  thee  praise 
and  gratitude,  and  penitence  and  joy,  and  tears 
and  gladness. 

45 


We  thank  thee,  Almighty  One,  that  in  the 
sharpest  stress  of  human  experience,  in  the 
midst  of  many  perplexities,  borne  down  it  may 
be  by  heavy  trials  now  and  then,  we  thank  thee 
for  the  unspeakable  gift  that  thou  hast  given  us, 
the  gift  of  believing  in  thee  as  children  believe  in 
their  father  because  they  think  he  knows,  be- 
cause they  trust  his  wisdom,  because  they  feel 
his  love ;  and  we  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  given 
us  that  great  gift  of  believing  that  somehow  and 
somewhere  and  somewhen,  good  will  come  out 
of  apparent  evil,  and  that  if  we  are  in  the  simple 
way  of  duty,  if  we  are  childlike  and  faithful,  and 
are  living  without  anxiety  for  this  or  that,  but 
reposing  on  thee  and  following  thy  lead,  that  all 
shall  be  well,  more  than  well,  with  us.  And  we 
give  thee  thanks  and  gratitude,  Almighty  God, 
that  the  worst  never  comes  to  us ;  that  whatever 
our  lot  and  our  trial,  it  is  not  as  hard  as  it  might 
be.  The  darkness  is  not  as  dark  as  it  might  be, 
and  there  is  a  wonder  beyond,  a  wonder  of  be- 
lieving and  hoping  and  trusting  that  thou  seest 
the  end  from  the  beginning  and  that  thy  eternal 
will  is  eternal  good.  We  pray  that  by  thy  Spirit 
we  may  enter  into  this  experience  with  fullness 
of  life,  with  cheerful  resignation  of  heart,  with 
humble  sense  of  weakness  and  sin ;  and  that  thou 
wilt  give  us  strength  enough  to  be  thy  people  in 
our  day. 

46 


Inspire  us,  we  pray  thee,  to  noble  ambitions 
and  godly  lives ;  kindle  in  our  hearts  those  things 
that  are  so  beautiful  that  we  will  rest  under 
their  banners  for  their  own  sakes,  for  their  own 
love,  for  their  own  glory.  May  we  have  more 
and  more  things,  thoughts,  imaginations,  and 
affections  that  we  are  willing  to  live  for  and  die 
for.  May  we  have  more  and  more  of  those  un- 
selfish experiences  which  teach  us  that  if  we 
would  be  anything  we  will  be  willing  to  be  noth- 
ing. And  so  may  we  be  lead  into  the  mystery 
and  secret  of  thy  life,  the  losing  ourselves  to  find 
ourselves,  the  losing  ourselves  that  we  shall  be 
saved. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  we  thank  thee  for 
all  the  blessings  of  our  lot,  the  common  blessings 
of  daily  life,  our  food  and  raiment ;  for  comfort- 
able shelter,  for  gentle  and  pure  light,  and  for 
all  the  benedictions  and  blessings  that  beam 
upon  us  from  the  eyes  of  those  that  love  us  and 
from  the  hearts  in  which  we  trust.  These,  these, 
0  God,  are  thine,  thou  Inspirer  of  all  goodness, 
all  beauty,  and  all  love. 

We  would  call  to  mind  to-day  the  events  in  the 
life  of  Jesus,  our  Master.  We  would  call  to  mind 
his  trials,  his  temptations,  the  illusions  and  all 
the  dreams  and  all  the  popular  vanities  which 
gather  around  it,  and  we  will  learn  from  them 
lessons  of  wisdom  and  of  truth,  and  of  all  beauty 

47 


and  of  holiness ;  and  as  we  hear  the  cheers,  as  we 
hear  the  hosannas  which  hailed  him,  and  which 
the  next  day  or  the  day  after  were  turned  to 
storm  and  contempt,  may  we  see  his  exceeding 
glory,  infinite  and  divine — his  moral  strength 
which  could  not  be  moved,  by  which  he  stood  in 
his  own  divine  power,  in  his  own  eternal  might, 
and  overcame  with  the  sweetness  and  purity  and 
strength  of  his  spirit  all  the  scorn  of  the  world. 
So  let  our  hearts  be  taught ;  so  let  our  footsteps 
be  led  and  guided  by  eternal  wisdom  and  eternal 
love.  AMEN. 

0  God,  thou  who  giveth  to  every  man  liberally 
and  withholdeth  not,  fulfill  now  in  our  hearts  the 
best  thoughts,  the  purest  purposes  that  we  feel 
and  know ;  and  when  we  go  to  our  places,  to  our 
homes,  to  the  world  of  business,  the  conflicts  of 
life,  may  we  keep  the  citadel  of  being  in  awful 
fear  of  terrible  glory  and  surrounded  by  ever- 
lasting fires  of  watchfulness  and  purity  and 
truth.  And  may  the  peace  of  God  ever  be  with 
us ;  the  peace  of  a  pure  conscience,  of  an  upright 
mind,  of  a  tender  heart;  and  may  it  be  enough 
for  us  to  know  that  thou  art  and  we  are.  AMEN. 


48 


APEIL  14,  1889 -EVENING 

GOD,  our  Father,  thou  who  makest  day  and 
night,  who  causeth  the  day  spring  to  know  its 
place  and  the  setting  sun  to  rejoice  in  its  glory, 
we  come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer  for  an 
hour,  to  meditate,  to  think,  to  worship,  to  pray 
to  thee.  We  come  with  grateful  minds,  ever 
bearing  in  our  hearts  remembrance  of  thy  good- 
ness. The  whole  earth  is  full  of  it,  and  thy  wis- 
dom is  high  above  the  heavens  and  deeper  than 
the  earth ;  thy  understanding  is  from  everlasting 
to  everlasting,  and  thou  hast  guided  man  in  his 
feeble  steps  through  much  ignorance  and  blind- 
ness and  sin,  and  thou  hast  concealed  in  his  heart 
thy  word  of  truth  and  love  and  righteousness. 
We  adore  thy  goodness,  we  bow  reveringly  be- 
fore thy  power,  we  owe  with  gratitude  thy  eter- 
nal kingdom  and  righteousness  and  rule. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  on  all  to-night,  upon  the 
common  family  of  thy  earthly  children,  and  let 
thy  blessing  and  thy  Spirit  be  with  all  those 
whom  we  think  of  when  we  think  most  deeply, 
most  affectionately  of  the  bonds  that  bind  us 
here  on  earth.  Wherever  they  may  be,  on  land, 


on  the  sea,  going  or  coming  or  staying,  may 
they  be  blessed  and  upheld  in  the  same  almighty 
providence,  and  may  we  all  feel  that  distance 
cannot  be  great  between  those  who  are  thinking 
the  same  thoughts,  worshiping  the  same  God, 
and  enfolded  in  the  same  almighty,  almighty 
care.  Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  the  people  of 
this  city  and  upon  all  their  dwellings.  Deal  gen- 
tly with  the  weak,  the  wandering,  the  straying; 
with  wise  severity  with  those  who  are  willfully 
wrong,  and  let  all  thy  goodness  again  and  again 
pass  before  thy  children,  that  they  may  be 
turned  from  every  evil  way  to  their  Father  in 
heaven. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  all  the  widows,  the 
sick,  the  tried,  the  afflicted,  and  the  broken- 
hearted. May  they  have  a  mysterious  comfort, 
even  in  their  sorrow  and  trial  itself,  and  may 
pain  and  anguish  reveal  in  their  hearts  an  awful 
mystery,  the  mystery  of  suffering  to  bring  our 
hearts  to  the  deepest  experience  of  loveliness 
and  truth. 

Almighty  One,  hear  our  prayers,  forgive  our 
weaknesses  and  our  sins,  and  lead  us  by  thy 
strong  and  merciful  hand  in  safety  and  in  peace. 
AMEN. 


50 


APEIL  21,  1889  -  MOENING 

0  GOD,  our  Father,  Infinite  and  Holy  One,  thou 
whose  word  is  spoken  in  all  places  of  thy  domin- 
ion and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  world;  thou 
whose  law  goes  forth  to  hold  the  worlds  in  their 
places  and  in  whose  hand  the  ocean  rolls;  thou 
hast  proclaimed  thy  word  and  thy  truth  to  the 
children  of  men;  thou  hast  set  thy  Son  Jesus 
Christ  to  confirm  that  word,  to  establish  and  to 
keep  it  forever  and  ever. 

We  adore  thy  greatness;  we  bow  in  humble 
reverence  before  it,  and  we  lean  with  filial  trust 
upon  thy  almighty  paternal  arm.  We  thank 
thee  (owning  the  presence  of  thy  inspiring 
Spirit  in  all  those  great  sentiments  of  the  human 
heart  which  have  struggled  on  in  the  darkest 
periods  of  man's  trial  and  ignorance  and  sin) 
that  somehow  through  the  wicket  gate  of  death 
we  see  a  heavenly  light.  We  thank  thee  (owning 
the  influence  of  thy  everlasting  Spirit)  for  that 
faith  by  which  thine  humble  children  are  gone 
up  from  the  earth  as  the  sea  ascends  in  mists. 
They  have  gone  up  with  a  humble  hope,  with  a 
humble  trust,  that  somewhere  and  somehow  they 

51 


would  be  nearer  thee,  their  Maker,  and  feel  thy 
paternal  arm.  In  times  of  darkness  and  igno- 
rance and  sin  we  thank  thee  that  this  great  hope 
has  struggled  on  in  the  human  soul. 

And  we  thank  thee,  Almighty  One,  in  the 
name  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  that  thou  hast 
confirmed  the  heart  of  man  and  strengthened  his 
hope  and  comforted  his  spirit;  that  thou  hast 
given  to  him  thy  Son  to  abolish  death,  to  bring 
life  and  immortality  to  light  through  his  gospel, 
and  to  establish  thy  eternal  kingdom  and  that 
infinite  communion  of  earth  and  heaven.  Let 
this  Spirit  and  this  faith  be  upon  all  thy  people 
to-day;  on  every  land  and  clime  and  race  and 
tongue,  and  in  whatever  humble  ways  men  wor- 
ship thee,  in  whatever  ignorance  they  lift  up 
their  hands  unto  thee,  0  God,  hear  their  prayers, 
strengthen  their  hearts,  confirm  their  hopes,  and 
lead  them  forth  to  everlasting  life. 

We  ask  thy  blessing  upon  us  now,  and  receive, 
we  pray  thee,  our  humble  prayers,  our  penitent 
confessions;  and  lift  up  thy  people  forever  and 
ever. 

Let  the  blessing  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel  of 
thy  Son  be  in  our  dwellings.  Let  it  be  in  all  our 
hearts,  blessing,  consoling,  lifting  up,  and  com- 
forting amidst  trials  or  perplexities  or  joy  or 
gladness  forever  and  ever.  AMEN. 


52 


APEIL  21,  1889  —  EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  our  Father,  we  thank  thee  for 
the  pleasant  day,  for  the  gentle  evening  hour, 
the  fresh  evening  breeze,  for  the  quiet  of  home, 
the  fair  and  terrible  heavens  of  night,  and  for 
thy  watching  over  all. 

We  come  to  thee  in  the  evening  hour  to  our 
place  of  prayer.  We  come  to  take  thy  name  rev- 
rently  upon  our  lips,  to  bow  down  and  rise  up 
before  thee  with  reverent  act  of  holy  fear,  of 
awful  gladness  and  mirth,  and  humble  peni- 
tence and  contrition.  Pity  our  weaknesses ;  for- 
give our  sins;  restore  us  from  every  way  of 
thoughtlessness  or  ingratitude  or  wrong ;  and  let 
all  thy  goodness  pass  before  us,  that  we  may 
know  and  love  thee  for  what  thou  art. 

Tenderly  let  thy  gracious  compassion  rest  up- 
on all  thy  afflicted  children.  Pity  the  poor,  the 
distressed,  the  captive,  the  prisoner,  and  may 
all  conditions  and  fortunes  of  earthly  life  to 
which  thy  children  may  be  appointed  be  blessed 
by  thy  o'erruling  providence;  and  wherever 
they  may  be  there  let  thy  pity  be  also. 

Almighty  God,  thou  whose  providence  hast 
53 


guided  thy  human  race  from  the  beginning — 
from  its  days  of  feebleness,  ignorance,  weakness 
and  want, — and  who  hath  kept  thy  word  and 
thy  promise  to  thy  people,  leading  them  on,  we 
adore  with  reverence  and  gratitude  thy  presence 
and  power  in  thy  Holy  Church — thy  Holy 
Church  throughout  the  world,  of  all  classes  and 
races  and  of  all  men.  We  thank  thee  for  thy 
Holy  Spirit,  which  enchurches  itself  in  the 
human  world  and  leads  forth  the  common  race  of 
man  to  its  great  destiny. 

Open  our  eyes  and  hearts  to  that  truth,  that 
truth  that  thou  hast  ordained  to  go  forth  from 
conquering  to  conquer,  and  in  our  hearts  may  it 
have  free  course  and  be  glorified  in  the  light  of 
reason,  in  the  purity  of  imagination  and  affec- 
tion, in  our  humble  desire  to  serve  God  and  our 
fellow  men,  and  thus  whatever  earthly  event 
may  o'ertake  us,  may  we  ourselves  be  free — free 
as  those  who  are  made  free  by  the  spirit  of  God. 
AMEN. 


54 


APEIL  28,  1889  —  MOENING 

0  GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  Infinite  and  Holy 
One,  almighty  and  all-good,  we  come  again  to 
our  place  of  prayer.  The  week  has  passed,  the 
days  are  gone;  thy  strong  and  merciful  hand 
hath  led  and  sustained  us;  thy  Spirit  hath  in- 
spired us;  thy  providence  hath  protected  us; 
and  we  come  now  to  lift  up  our  minds  in  com- 
mon prayer  and  hymn  and  song,  to  bow  down 
before  thee,  reverently  and  devoutly,  and  with 
penitence  and  humility  to  implore  thy  loving 
forgiveness. 

Almighty  God,  be  with  thy  people  as  thou 
hast  been  from  of  old.  Let  thy  goodness  be  ac- 
cording to  our  wants,  our  ignorance,  our  weak- 
ness, frailty,  and  sin.  Thou  knowest  us  alto- 
gether, and  it  is  well  for  us  that  thou  shouldst 
know  us  fully.  May  we  by  thy  Spirit  be  able  to 
say  with  the  sincerity  and  simplicity  of  a  child- 
like heart,  "Search  me  and  know  me,  and  see  if 
there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in 
the  way  everlasting." 

We   always   have   much   and   everything  to 

55 


thank  thee  for  and  to  bless  thy  holy  name.  It  is 
thy  hand  that  guides  us  and  thy  Spirit  that  in- 
spires us ;  and  by  thy  blessing  we  are  beset  with 
many  a  charity  and  many  holy  things,  the  in- 
spiring gifts  of  our  earthly  lot. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  the  holy 
companionships  of  life ;  for  its  homes,  its  beauty 
and  grace  and  many  virtues,  its  loveliness  and 
many  self-sacrifices,  its  tender  sentiments  that 
bind  us  heart  to  heart  and  thought  to  thought. 
And  if  any  of  thy  children  look  back  o'er  the 
past, — o'er  a  past  that  was  wasted,  o'er  lives 
much  of  which  they  deplore, — may  they  in  such 
an  hour,  be  restored  by  some  fresh  impulse  of 
the  will,  some  divine  thoughts  of  thy  suggestion 
and  thy  Spirit,  which  will  set  them  free  in  the 
gladness  and  peace  of  thy  own  eternal  life. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  upon  us 
now,  that  in  our  minds  and  hearts  (fit  temples 
for  thy  Spirit)  we  may  worship  thee  in  sincerity 
and  truth.  May  we  have  abundant  blessings  of 
thy  grace,  abundant  communions  of  thy  Spirit, 
and  in  humility  and  tenderness  of  mind  and 
feeling  may  we  be  indeed  adopted  into  the  house- 
hold of  our  Father  in  heaven.  Let  thy  blessing 
be  upon  all  those  whom  we  love  everywhere; 
upon  those  who  are  in  any  distress,  affliction,  or 
perplexity  of  mind  or  heart.  Open  before  them 
a  plain  path.  Lead  them  by  a  strong  hand. 

56 


Comfort  them  and  lift  them  up   forever  and 
ever. 

Almighty  God,  forgive  our  sins;  pity  our 
weaknesses  and  lift  upon  us  the  light  of  thy 
grace  and  thy  countenance,  and  give  thy  chil- 
dren abundant  peace.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  hear  our  prayer.  Penitent, 
humble,  self-reliant,  and  relying  on  thee,  help 
thy  servants  in  their  most  tried  moments,  in 
their  sharp  temptations,  with  purity  of  will  and 
sweetness  of  affection,  to  read  the  life  in  thy 
law ;  and  may  wisdom  and  truth  and  virtue  seem 
beautiful  to  us ;  and  young  or  old,  rich  or  poor, 
wherever  we  may  be,  may  we  hear  thy  voice  and 
answer,  "Here  am  I."  AMEN. 


57 


APEIL  28,  1889  -  EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  and  most  merciful  God,  our  Father 
in  heaven,  infinite  in  thy  greatness  and  in  thy 
goodness,  who  hast  revealed  thyself  and  art  re- 
vealing thyself  unto  us  through  the  generations 
and  lives  of  men,  in  our  own  hearts,  in  our 
earthly  experience;  and  thou  art  making  known 
to  us  continually  thy  ways,  thy  word,  and  thy 
commandments.  We  would  hear  thy  word.  We 
would  obey  thy  call.  We  adore  thy  providence 
as  it  is  manifested  in  the  world  of  men.  We 
would,  with  devout  feeling  and  pure  imagination, 
go  back  in  our  thoughts  to  the  early  times  of 
thy  providences  and  thy  doings  in  the  world. 

0  God,  thou  hast  no  time,  and  the  ages  are 
but  as  a  hand  Vbreadth  unto  thee.  Man  has  had 
his  beginning,  his  childhood,  his  ignorance,  his 
blindness,  and  his  need  of  continual  guidance 
and  teaching  and  guardianship  and  care  from 
thee.  And  we  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  as  we 
run  back  in  thought  and  imagination  that  we 
can  see  that  thou  hast  treated  man  kindly.  Thou 
hast  taken  him  in  thine  arms,  and  he  has  seen  his 
own  image  in  thine  eyes,  and  thou  hast  preserved 
58 


him  as  the  apple  of  thine  eye.  Thou  hast  led 
him  by  the  hand,  held  him  in  thine  arms,  taught 
him  the  simplest  words  of  thy  truth  and  com- 
mandment, and  led  him  forth  to  a  large  place 
from  conquering  to  conquer  the  world  around 
him  by  the  power  of  that  spiritual  being  which 
thou  hast  given  him. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  that  devout 
and  simple  minds,  the  more  they  know  the  more 
childlike  they  feel;  the  greater  the  conquests  of 
their  knowledge,  the  simpler  their  hearts;  and 
that  as  we  grow  older  and  the  stream  grows 
deeper  that  bears  us  on  to  the  infinite  sea,  we 
thank  thee  that  our  highest  experience  is  to  be- 
come childlike  again,  to  forego  our  worldly  vani- 
ties and  conceits,  to  remember  our  ignorance  and 
our  weakness,  and  to  look  into  thy  face  with  filial 
confidence  and  filial  trust.  Let  all  our  earthly 
experiences,  and  all  our  knowledge  of  the  world, 
and  all  the  trial  of  our  hearts,  and  all  the  glories 
of  our  minds  be  chastened  by  such  thoughts. 
May  our  trials  be  consoled.  May  our  knowledge 
be  made  modest  and  humble.  May  our  reverence 
for  the  human  heart  and  the  human  mind  be 
greater  and  greater,  and  may  we  learn  that  thy 
grace  and  distinguished  expression  to  us  are 
through  our  fellow  beings ;  and  so  may  our  sym- 
pathy increase,  and  may  we  learn  something  of 
what  it  is  we  need,  and  know  when  we  talk  of  the 


love  of  God  that  it  is  a  love  for  all  that  is  human, 
a  love  for  every  human  child,  with  all  its  affec- 
tions, trust,  burden,  or  care,  a  love  for  every 
triumph  and  conquest  and  faith  and  emotion; 
and  may  we  learn  something  of  what  it  is  to  be 
human  ourselves. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  hear  our  prayers 
and  pity  our  weaknesses;  forgive  our  sins; 
chasten  our  pride  and  our  conceit,  and  give  us 
wisdom  and  virtue  and  faith  and  peace.  AMEN. 


60 


May  5,   1889  -  MORNING 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  Infinite  and  Holy 
One,  we  thank  thee  for  thy  protecting  care,  for 
thy  constant  mercy,  thy  providence  and  good- 
ness, thy  wisdom,  thine  eternal  good-will.  We 
thank  thee  for  the  fair  order  of  our  daily  life; 
that  to  a  believing  and  trustful  heart  it  seems 
led  forward  by  a  providential  hand.  We  are 
guided  in  darkness  and  we  are  led  in  light.  When 
trial  overshadows  us  and  when  peace  surrounds 
us,  there  seems  to  the  trusting  spirit  a  guiding 
and  protecting  power  over  all,  a  fire  by  night  a 
cloud  by  day,  an  almighty  goodness  and  eter- 
nal wisdom  and  power  and  love. 

We  rejoice,  Almighty  Father,  that  thou  hast 
given  us  this  grace  and  peace,  that  whatever 
comes,  that  whatever  happens,  that  whatever 
bereavement  or  trial  or  joy  or  satisfaction  or  suc- 
cess may  come  to  us,  in  the  depths  of  our  hearts 
we  feel  that  there  is  a  goodness  and  a  wisdom 
guiding  us  better  than  ourselves  and  better  than 
we  know. 

Almighty  One,  terrible  in  thy  greatness, 
lovely  in  thy  goodness  and  in  thy  beauty,  come 
61 


now  to  the  hearts  of  thy  people ;  comfort,  cheer, 
and  bless;  forgive  our  sins  that  we  do  repent 
of;  lift  up  our  discouraged  hearts  into  joy  and 
peace  and  triumph;  and  lead  us  on  through  a 
land  of  beauty  and  wonder  and  goodness,  to  a 
still  fairer  land  of  glory  and  power  and  might. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  the  won- 
ders of  thy  word ;  the  ancient  stories  of  prophets 
and  martyrs  and  saints  and  of  thy  servants, — 
stories  which  do  so  illustrate  our  daily  experi- 
ence, and  seem  to  be  the  thread  on  which  our 
common  human  lot  is  borne. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  all  those 
events  in  human  experience  that  have  a  perpet- 
ual import, — how  the  planting  of  the  earth,  the 
setting  of  the  vine,  the  building  of  the  wall  and 
tower  may  all  illustrate  our  earthly  scenes  and 
our  earthly  undertakings;  and  how  all  comes 
to  nought  without  God's  blessing  and  God's 
care, — for  the  story  of  the  wise  man  and  king 
who  went  to  be  crowned  and  came  back  expect- 
ing wisdom  and  faithfulness  and  industry  and 
honorable  gains  from  his  servants;  for  the  wise 
reproof  that  he  gave  to  one,  the  blessing  and 
honor  he  gave  to  the  other,  because  he  had  been 
faithful  and  true,  or  because  he  had  been  weak 
and  cowardly, — we  thank  thee  for  it  all.  And 
we  pray  thee,  Almighty  God,  that  thy  Spirit  in 
us,  inspiring  our  intelligence,  purifying  our  con- 


sciences  and  our  hearts,  may  enable  us  to  see  the 
similitude  of  our  earthly  business  with  our 
spiritual  lives,  the  glory  of  that  life  which  is 
crowned  with  honor  and  immortality,  symbolized 
and  set  forth  in  our  getting  and  our  doing,  our 
planning  and  laying  out  our  work  for  days  and 
months  and  years ;  and  we  pray,  0  God,  that  by 
thy  Spirit  we  may  be  illumined  so  as  to  turn 
those  sharp  conflicts  of  mind  and  spirit  within, 
into  those  victories  and  triumphs  of  the  heart 
which  are  hidden  from  the  world,  but  which  thou 
knowest,  and  which  thy  servants  know  in  their 
own  breasts,  and  which  give  us  a  place  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  May  we  ever  be  ready  for 
unseen  conflicts,  for  that  hidden  wall  of  trial; 
and  may  we  feel  with  unseen  hands  the  crown 
put  upon  our  brow. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  now  upon 
all  who  belong  to  us  by  the  tender  ties  of  human 
feelings  and  human  love.  We  thank  thee  for  all 
those  whom  we  have  had  with  us  ever  before, 
who  are  gone  from  us  and  are  beyond  our  sight 
on  earth.  And  we  lift  up  our  hearts  to  thee  in 
gratitude  for  every  manifestation  of  thy  Spirit 
to  human  eyes  and  human  hearts,  and  child- 
hood's love  and  childhood's  memory. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  thy  people  now,  and 
lift  them  up  forever,  and  let  not  evil  have  domin- 
ion over  us  to-day  and  for  evermore.  AMEN. 


Almighty  God,  our  Father,  fulfill  now  in  the 
hearts  of  thy  servants  their  best  thoughts,  their 
purest  purposes,  their  right  good-will.  Help  us 
to  overcome  every  infirmity  of  body  or  mind,  and 
in  the  strife  of  life  may  we  have  great  conquests, 
honorable,  pure,  and  true;  and  in  the  secret 
places  of  our  own  hearts  and  in  the  walks  of  the 
world,  may  we  have  no  doubt  that  things  are 
eternal  and  everlasting.  AMEN. 


64 


MAY  5,  1889 -EVENING 

THOU  INFINITE  SPIRIT,  Holy  One,  we  would  come 
nigh  unto  thee  with  filial  minds  and  trusting 
hearts.  We  adore  thee  with  awful  reverence,  with 
gladness  and  holy  mirth;  and  we  lift  up  our 
voice  unto  thee  in  song  and  prayer.  Give  thy 
people  of  thy  blessing  and  thy  grace.  Lead  them 
into  fresh  pastures  of  thy  truth  and  thy  love. 
Let  still  waters  sound  near  by,  bringing  peace 
of  the  heart,  the  conscience,  and  the  spirit. 

Almighty  One,  thou  in  whose  hand  turns  the 
soft  axle  of  the  earth,  bringing  day  and  night, 
ordering  the  fair  seasons  of  the  year,  giving  the 
rain,  refreshing  the  earth,  and  gladdening  every 
creature,  gladden  the  hearts  of  thy  people,  and 
refresh  them  with  wisdom  and  knowledge  and 
beauty  and  truth.  Pity  our  weaknesses;  lift  us 
up  if  we  fall ;  be  patient  with  us  in  our  ignorance 
and  in  our  thoughtlessness;  and  may  we  feel 
that  by  being  tenderly  and  wisely  chastised  we 
become  wiser,  better,  more  filial  and  true  to  thee. 
Let  the  knowledge  of  thy  pity  and  faith  in  thy 
great  wisdom,  thy  perfect  righteousness, — let 
that  kindle  our  hearts  in  the  midst  of  life's 


troubles  and  trials  and  tumults.  It  takes  us  a 
lifetime  to  learn  the  mysteries  and  plan  of  life ; 
to  learn  how  deep  are  its  sorrows,  how  high  its 
morning^  how  wide  and  strong  its  peace  at 
evening. 

Teach  us  to  feel  that  in  thy  almighty  hand  and 
in  thy  perfect  wisdom  no  harm  can  come  to  us 
save  through  ourselves;  that  nothing  can  move 
thine  eternal  good-will  from  its  purpose,  and 
nothing  can  disturb  its  goodness,  its  power  and 
wisdom,  but  our  own  waywardness,  our  own 
weakness  or  folly ;  and  so  help  us  wisely  to  bear 
whatever  comes,  mindful  of  that  which  comes  by 
thy  providence,  and  mindful  of  that  which  comes 
of  our  folly;  and  may  we  use  wisely  our  expe- 
rience, that  our  minds  may  be  enriched,  our 
hearts  made  more  soft  and  gentle  and  teachable ; 
and  as  years  increase  may  we  have  greater  faith, 
greater  peace,  and  have  no  fear  or  alarm,  know- 
ing that  we  may  be  the  friends  of  God.  AMEN. 


MAY  12,  1889 

0  GOD,  our  Father,  Infinite  and  Holy  One,  whose 
hand  sustains,  whose  Spirit  inspires,  whose  lov- 
ing providence  and  paternal  care  blesses  all  thy 
creatures,  we  thank  thee  for  the  pleasant  day, 
for  all  its  happy  opportunities,  its  freedom  from 
the  common  cares  and  labors  of  life,  its  compan- 
ionships of  home  and  friends,  of  childhood's 
gladness,  of  youthful  associations,  of  pure  affec- 
tions and  tender  cares ;  and  now  we  come  in  the 
evening  hour  to  look  up  to  thee  again  in  grati- 
tude and  in  reverent  thoughtfulness,  to  meditate 
upon  the  things  that  belong  to  us  as  the  children 
of  God,  to  think  a  little  of  the  great  mystery  of 
existence,  the  glory,  the  wisdom,  the  wonder,  the 
discouragement,  the  hope,  and  the  victory  of  the 
human  world. 

O  God,  help  us  by  thy  Spirit  as  we  believe  in 
thee  to  believe  in  man,  thy  child ;  help  us  as  we 
believe  in  thy  providence  to  believe  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  and  as  we  read  the  early  story  and 
read  the  later  words  of  thy  Son,  may  we  with 
exalted  imagination,  with  pure  insight,  see  the 
meaning  of  all  this  human  throng ;  this  mystery 
67 


of  existence  in  this  world  of  hope  and  doubt  and 
fear  and  triumph  and  peace. 

Almighty  Father,  reveal  unto  us  the  simple 
truth  and  the  simple  faith  that  thou,  the  Maker 
of  all  things,  knowest  what  thou  hast  made ;  that 
thou  knowest  man's  heart,  his  weakness  and  his 
sin,  and  that  the  chastisements  of  thy  righteous- 
ness, the  retributions  of  thy  wisdom  and  thy  love, 
are  all  in  his  behalf,  for  his  welfare  and  for  thine 
eternal  good-will ;  and  help  us,  each  one  of  us  in 
his  place,  in  the  place  which  is  providentially 
allotted  to  us  in  life,  to  act  well  our  part  with 
consecrated  will,  with  pure  affection,  with  sim- 
plicity of  heart,  to  do  our  duty  and  to  leave  the 
rest  to  God. 

We  thank  thee  for  all  the  kindly  charities  of 
our  human  life,  all  its  tender  blessings  that  as- 
suage the  hardness  of  our  earthly  lot,  all  its 
heavenly  benedictions  and  graces  that  descend 
upon  us,  softening  our  hearts,  purifying  our  af- 
fections, clearing  our  vision,  so  that  the  truth  of 
God,  his  wisdom,  our  own  hearts,  and  our  own 
consciences  are  as  plain  to  us  as  the  sun. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  the  dwellings  of  all 
the  people  to-night,  upon  all  the  people  of  the 
city,  and  upon  all  dwellings  as  the  evening 
shadow  falls  around  them.  Be  with  those  on 
whom  a  deeper  shadow  falls,  deeper  than  the 
shades  of  night — the  shadow  of  trial,  of  anxiety, 


of  grief,  and  of  death.  Let  thy  gentle  provi- 
dences be  with  all  the  afflicted  children  of  men, 
and  thy  wisdom  and  thy  goodness  be  ever  going 
forth  to  help  the  weary,  to  lift  up  the  fallen,  to 
bless  the  helpless,  and  to  lead  thy  children  on 
and  on  and  on.  AMEN. 


MAY  19,  1889  -  MOENING 

0  GOD,  the  God  who  alone  surrounds  us  on  every 
side,  thou  Almighty,  Mysterious  One  to  whom  all 
hearts  are  opened,  we  look  up  to  thee  reverently 
and  devoutly,  and  we  bow  down  with  penitence 
and  holy  fear,  and  rise  up  with  gladness  and 
awful  mirth  before  thee.  We,  thy  children,  al- 
ways need  thee ;  we  call  thy  name ;  answer  thou 
us  and  hear  our  prayers.  We  come  from  the 
daily,  constant,  yet  everchanging  experience  of 
the  human  life,  its  vicissitudes,  its  cares,  its 
hopes,  its  fears ;  the  life  that  thou  hast  given  us, 
a  life  of  great  rejoicing,  a  life  of  sublime  wonder 
and  wisdom,  a  life  of  infinite  anxiety,  a  life  of 
great  and  heavy  pain  and  burden.  We  would 
not  think  to  comprehend  it  or  to  understand  it, 
but  we  would  flee  unto  thee,  thou  Ordainer  of  it, 
feeling  our  own  ignorance  and  our  dependence 
on  thee,  and  trusting  that  thou  seest  the  end 
from  the  beginning,  and  hast  ordained  our  lot 
in  eternal  wisdom,  goodness,  and  good-will. 

We  come  to  thee,  0  God,  in  this  our  place  of 
prayer.  We  have  called  upon  thy  name  in  gen- 
tler accents  at  our  own  home,  and  in  the  private 

70 


places  of  our  thoughts,  or  it  may  be  in  a  moment 
upon  the  streets  or  by  the  wayside  we  have 
thought  of  thee,  our  Maker  and  our  Almighty 
Friend,  our  final  Judge.  And  we  pray,  Almighty 
One,  that  these  thoughts  that  come  to  our  hearts 
as  doves  to  the  windows  may  chasten  and  bless 
and  guide  us ;  that  we  may  become  so  accustomed 
with  them  that  we  shall  be  in  companionship 
with  thee,  and  that  we  shall  learn  something  of 
the  mystery  of  thy  servant's  ancient  word,  when 
he  spoke  of  the  "light  of  God"  that  shone  upon 
his  beloved  in  the  heavenly  kingdom,  where  they 
have  no  need  of  the  light  of  day  or  lamps  or 
candles,  but  the  light  of  thy  Spirit  enlightenth 
them,  and  they  understand  and  see  and  discern 
the  deep  things  of  thy  Spirit  and  of  thy  truth. 

Almighty  One,  terrible,  holy,  good,  beautiful, 
let  thy  Spirit  rest  upon  thy  people  now.  Com- 
fort the  afflicted;  bind  up  the  broken-hearted; 
and  help  those  that  have  been  afflicted  to  learn 
the  great  lesson  of  wisdom,  the  wisdom  of  their 
own  weakness,  the  wisdom  of  God's  love,  the 
righteousness  and  uprightness  of  his  providence, 
and  may  they  have  the  peace  of  abiding  near 
thee  evermore. 

We  ask  thy  blessing,  Almighty  One,  upon  thy 

common  human  family.    We  know  that  thou 

carest  for  them ;  that  thou  hast  measured  out  to 

them  the  bounds  of  their  habitations;  thou  hast 

71 


appointed  their  years,  their  times,  their  eras,  and 
we  love  with  human  sympathy  and  human  re- 
gard to  speak  the  common  name  of  man — man, 
thy  son,  man,  thy  beloved,  weak,  ignorant,  and 
blind,  often  going  away  in  many  sins.  Pursue 
him  by  thy  love  and  bring  him  back,  we  pray 
thee,  from  all  wanderings,  and  finally  lead  him 
on  with  all  the  conquering  hosts  of  God  to  that 
eternal  city  where  thou  art  the  light  and  glory 
for  evermore.  AMEN. 

0  God,  our  Father,  thou  who  hast  kindled  our 
hearts  with  celestial  fires  and  inspired  in  us  an 
eternal  hope,  let  the  light  of  that  fire  and  the 
inspiration  of  that  hope  sustain,  comfort,  and 
cheer  the  hearts  of  thy  children  with  holy  forti- 
tude, with  glad  and  happy  courage,  with  patient 
strength  and  holy  faith.  May  our  vision  be  puri- 
fied ;  may  our  hearts  be  made  true ;  and  whatever 
we  are  called  upon  to  do  or  bear  may  we  say 
within  our  hearts,  "This  is  the  will  of  God," — 
and  may  we  bear  it  and  go  forward  with  the 
strength  of  God's  will. 

Let  thy  gentle  and  tender  compassion  be  upon 
all  thy  children;  encourage,  inspire,  bless,  and 
make  glad  the  heart  of  thy  people  forever  and 
forever.  AMEN. 


72 


MAY  19,  1889  -  EVENING 

AGAIN  we  come  in  the  evening  hour  to  this  our 
place  of  prayer.  Again  we  lift  up  our  heart  and 
voice  to  thee  and  commend  ourselves  and  all 
those  who  are  dear  to  us  to  thy  holy  providence, 
thy  paternal  and  ever  friendly  care. 

The  pleasant  day  is  gone.  Evening  shadows 
are  falling  around  the  dwellings  of  man,  and  thy 
care  and  thy  watching  are  over  all.  We  adore 
thy  providence;  we  wonder  at  thy  works,  the 
marvelous  works  thou  art  doing  and  hast  been 
doing  from  when  time  began  until  now ;  and  the 
experience  of  human  life  renewed  in  the  hearts 
of  every  generation,  repeated  in  our  hearts  and 
lives,  the  leading  of  thy  providence,  the  moni- 
tions of  thy  Spirit,  the  directions  of  thy  will, — 
all  these  fill  our  hearts  with  a  revering  adoration, 
and  we  look  forward  and  around  us  and  upward 
and  we  gain  new  and  divine  suggestions  and 
hints  of  our  being  and  our  destiny. 

We  thank  thee  for  all  the  records  of  thy  provi- 
dence in  the  world  of  men,  for  the  testimony 
which  the  great  and  the  good,  the  illustrious,  and 
the  ensamples  of  mankind  give  of  their  confi- 
73 


dence  and  their  trust  when  guided  by  thy  al- 
mighty hand.  We  thank  thee  for  the  story  of 
the  childhood  of  man;  for  thy  care  of  him,  for 
thy  watching  over  him,  for  the  adaptation  of 
thy  teaching  to  his  mind  and  heart,  and  for  thy 
guidance  by  thy  Spirit  and  thy  Son. 

Let  a  reverent  mind,  we  pray  thee,  let  a  de- 
vout temper  and  disposition  penetrate  our  hearts. 
Dismiss  from  our  minds  all  conceit  of  knowledge. 
Now  may  reason  and  faith  and  affection,  pure 
feeling  and  pure  thoughts,  guide  us,  inspire  us, 
and  keep  us  in  perfect  peace. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  upon  and 
we  commend  to  thy  care  all  those  whom  we  think 
of  when  we  think  of  the  human  ties  that  bind  us ; 
we  remember  our  fathers  and  mothers  in  the 
past ;  and  we  remember  our  fathers  and  mothers 
and  brothers  and  sisters  and  neighbors  and 
friends  of  to-day.  For  every  feature  of  human 
life  and  experience,  for  every  joy  and  grace,  for 
every  pain  we  bear,  we  give  thee  revering  grati- 
tude, and  we  invoke  on  us  daily  thine  eternal 
good-will. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  every  human  dwell- 
ing, on  every  human  heart;  chastise,  reprove, 
lead  by  the  hand,  lift  up,  restore,  and  strengthen, 
and  let  all  thy  children  be  blessed  in  thee. 
AMEN. 


74 


MAY  26,  1889  —  MOENING 

INFINITE  AND  HOLY  ONE,  Almighty  Maker  and 
Inspirer,  Guide  and  Providence  of  thy  people 
forever  and  forever,  we  come  to  our  place  of 
prayer  and  meditation  with  our  continually  re- 
turning wants,  with  our  newly  offered  praise, 
with  our  humble,  devout,  and  contrite  prayer. 
We  own  thy  greatness,  thy  power,  thy  goodness, 
thy  eternal  good-will.  We  come  to  thee  conscious 
of  our  own  weaknesses,  our  shortcomings,  our 
frequent  failures,  and  our  often  sins.  We  would 
come  with  deep  and  tender  humility;  we  would 
come  with  sincere  and  holy  penitence;  and  for- 
give, thou  Infinite  God, — forgive  the  sins  that  we 
do  repent  of  and  sincerely  forsake,  and  pity  our 
weaknesses,  and  lift  up  thy  people  forever  and 
forever. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  the  common 
blessings  of  our  lot,  those  blessings  which  are  so 
common  that  we  are  quite  inclined  to  forget 
them,  or  take  no  note  of  them, — the  genial  light 
of  day,  the  health-giving  air,  fair  scenes  and 
lovely  sounds,  the  companionship  of  friends,  the 
consecration  of  home  with  all  its  affections,  all 

75 


the  genial  ties  and  hopes  and  pleasures  and  satis- 
factions, and  all  the  deeper  triumphs  that  give 
solemnity  and  earnestness  and  awe  to  our  earth- 
ly lot.  Holy  One,  we  ask  thy  consecrating  Spirit 
in  blessing  upon  each  one  of  us  in  whatever  posi- 
tion thou  hast  placed  us,  and  we  pray  thee  to 
adorn  our  earthly  habitations  with  fair  and 
beautiful  and  holy  associations.  Let  thy  blessing 
be  upon  us  according  to  our  age,  according  to 
our  experience,  according  to  our  wants;  upon 
infancy,  childhood,  youth,  manhood,  ripe  years; 
according  to  all  that  thou  hast  led  thy  children 
into,  through,  and  out  of;  according  to  all  that 
they  have  yet  to  learn  to  become  wise  and  en- 
lightened and  true  and  pure  and  good.  So  tem- 
per thy  Spirit  and  thy  providence  that  no  evil 
shall  have  dominion  over  us.  Keep  us  to-day 
without  sin,  and  keep  us  all  our  days  in  eternal 
heights  of  moral  strength  and  purity  and  good, 
where  none  can  molest  or  make  us  afraid. 

Holy  Father,  hear  our  prayer, — our  prayer 
that  is  uttered  and  our  prayer  that  is  unuttered, 
that  which  is  deeper  than  words  can  tell  and 
flows  from  the  depths  of  our  hearts,  the  heights 
of  our  imagination,  and  the  wonder  and  infini- 
tude of  our  love ;  hear  it  all ;  receive  it  into  thine 
own  heart.  Pity,  forgive,  cheer,  encourage,  and 
lead  thy  people  on.  AMEN. 


76 


Almighty  God,  hear  now  the  prayers  of  thy 
children,  and  answer  them  according  to  their 
needs,  to  their  sincere  purpose,  their  tender  and 
pure  affection.  Consecrate  us  all  to  each  other 
and  to  thyself,  by  thy  Holy  Spirit. 

Thou  who  turnest  the  hearts  of  kings  as  the 
rivers  of  water  are  turned,  turn  our  hearts  to 
genial  sympathies,  to  pure  feelings  and  simple 
loves ;  and  may  we  be  blessed  in  the  common  good 
of  the  common  heart  inspired  by  thee.  AMEN. 


77 


MAY   26,  1889  — EVENING 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  we  are  come  again  to 
our  place  of  prayer,  and  as  thou  drawest  the 
gentle  curtains  of  night  about  the  habitations  of 
men  we  would  lift  up  our  hearts  to  thee  in  rever- 
ence and  gratitude  and  humility  and  joy.  We 
thank  thee  for  the  pleasant  day,  for  its  happy 
relief  from  the  ordinary  cares  and  business  of 
the  world,  for  its  blessed  opportunities  of  home, 
of  childhood,  of  father  and  mother,  brother  and 
sister  and  friend ;  and  we  thank  thee,  Almighty 
God,  with  simple  and  childlike  feeling  that,  as 
our  experience  increases,  we  feel  that  the  world 
is  more  and  more  one  of  a  home  in  our  Heavenly 
Father 's  house ;  that  here  thou  hast  fitted  us  our 
dwelling-place  for  a  time,  appointed  us  our  sea- 
sons, to  lead  us  forth  by  the  hands  of  thy  holy 
providence  in  a  wise,  paternal,  severe,  yet  merci- 
ful manner ;  that  thou  art  chastising  us  morning 
and  evening  and  admonishing  us  gently  by  thy 
word  and  Spirit,  and  teaching  us  to  live  unto 
thee,  to  love  righteousness,  to  love  one  another, 
and  to  love  thee,  our  Father  and  our  God.  May 
our  filial  heart  receive  these  gentle  teachings, 

78 


these  wise  admonitions,  and  if  we  look  up  to  thee 
through  our  tears,  if  we  sometimes  cry  to  thee 
from  the  sea  of  trouble,  0  God,  give  us  faith  and 
trust  to  look  to  thee  with  confiding  hearts,  and  to 
believe  in  and  trust  thee  with  pure  and  childlike 
minds. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  upon  all 
thy  people  of  the  city,  of  all  conditions  and  for- 
tunes and  experiences.  Thou  alone  knowest  the 
hearts  of  all  men.  Thou  alone  knowest  their 
trials,  their  temptations,  their  sins.  Chastise 
with  wise  severity,  with  tender  mercy,  with  pa- 
ternal love;  and  pursue  all  with  thy  goodness, 
thy  wisdom,  and  let  thy  goodness  and  thy  wis- 
dom be  on  our  behalf  always. 

Give  us  such  prosperity  in  the  affairs  of  this 
world  as  it  good  for  us,  and  out  of  it  all  may  we 
gain  that  which  is  better, — wisdom,  grace,  and 
love,  moral  beauty,  spiritual  life, — and  when 
finally  we  come  to  the  end  of  this  life  may  we  not 
be  compelled  to  exclaim,  "  Vanity  of  vanities,  all 
is  vanity, ' '  but  may  we  be  enabled  to  say  from  a 
pure  and  sincere  heart  that  we  have  found  wis- 
dom and  grace  and  love  and  goodness  in  this 
world,  and  that  we  won  some  of  these  things  to 
our  hearts;  and  may  we,  when  we  are  called  to 
do  it,  may  we  be  enabled  to  dismiss  this  world  as 
a  wise  and  good  man  dismisses  his  servant  who 
has  served  him  well,  commending  him  to  another. 
79 


And  so,  Holy  Father,  may  thy  word  and  thy 
kingdom  live  forever.  Lead  thy  people  on  and 
on  by  thy  power,  by  thy  wisdom,  and  let  none  of 
us  ever  repent  that  we  have  lived,  or  ever  be 
sorry  that  thou  hast  created  us.  Hear  our 
prayer,  forgive  our  sins,  and  lift  up  thy  people 
forever  and  forever. 


God,  our  Father,  hear  now,  in  heaven  thy 
dwelling-place,  the  prayers  of  thy  people.  In- 
spire our  hearts  with  thy  truth  that  we  may  live 
honestly  and  faithfully  as  we  dwell  here;  and 
with  pure  consciences  and  good  hearts  may  we 
pursue  this  world  with  higher  objects  than  the 
world  itself  ;  and  when  our  work  is  done  may  we 
have  no  regrets,  but  rather  gratitude,  that  we 
have  been  sustained  to  do  God's  will.  AMEN. 


JUNE  9,  1889  -  MOENING 
(After  the  Conemaugh  disaster.) 

0  GOD,  Infinite  and  Holy  One,  righteous1  Gov- 
ernor, just  Judge,  Holy  Father,  we  have  gone 
through  another  week  of  our  earthly  experience ; 
day  unto  day  have  uttered  speech,  and  night 
unto  night  have  shown  knowledge  of  thee;  our 
hearts  have  borne  testimony  of  thy  word  and 
commandment;  thy  Spirit  has  breathed  its  in- 
spiration into  our  hearts  and  thy  holy  providence 
has  spread  over  us  its  ever-protecting  care;  and 
we  come  again  with  gladness  and  joy,  and  grief 
and  pain,  and  penitence  and  tears,  and  awful  re- 
joicing and  mirth,  with  all  the  thoughts  and 
senses  and  feelings  that  muster  in  human  hearts. 
We  are  come  from  far  and  near  upon  the  earth, 
across  continents  or  seas,  and  from  the  near- 
lying  city  and  streets  and  dwellings  here.  We 
are  come,  some  of  us,  it  may  be,  from  great  dis- 
tances, from  wanderings  of  desire,  from  solitudes 
of  ingratitude  and  thoughtlessness  and  indiffer- 
ence,— great  distances  indeed  from  thee,  from 
ourselves,  from  the  better  angels  of  our  minds, 
from  the  guardian  spirits  of  our  affections;  but 
we  would  come  back,  we  would  come  to  thee,  to 

81 


one  another,  to  this  place  of  holy  prayer,  devout 
penitence,  humble  teaching,  holy  desire ;  and  we 
would  come,  O  God,  thou  one  in  all,  we  would 
come  with  increased  human  sympathies  and  more 
abundant  human  charities  and  feelings. 

If  we  have  any  personal  or  peculiar  or  hidden 
distress  of  our  own  hearts,  save  us,  0  God,  from 
the  selfishness  of  it;  save  us  from  that  seclusion 
which  grieves  and  mourns,  and  grieves  and 
mourns,  saying,  "Was  there  ever  any  prophet 
afflicted  as  this  prophet?''  but  let  our  hearts  be 
opened  wide  to  receive  the  monitions  of  thy 
Spirit  and  providence  always,  that  we  may 
learn  how  great  a  company  the  afflicted  are ;  and 
if  we  have  joy  and  gladness,  may  we  multiply  it 
as  the  light  of  day  is  multiplied ;  may  we  multi- 
ply it  as  thy  Son  multiplied  the  bread  to  feed  the 
famished  multitude, — multiply  it  by  passing  it 
around  and  giving  to  all. 

Almighty  One,  in  thy  infinite  providence,  un- 
der thy  paternal  law,  we  live ;  under  that  provi- 
dence and  in  that  law  we  rejoice  and  are  glad 
always;  and  when  by  sudden  calamity  or  man's 
weakness  or  ignorance  or  folly  or  sin  our  fellow 
creatures  are  snatched  away  from  life  and  over- 
whelmed in  destruction,  we  bless  thee  for  the 
confidence  and  for  the  hopeful  feeling  that  no 
human  thing  is  really  hurt,  no  eternal  good  is 
destroyed,  but  evil  and  pain,  and  every  tear  and 

82 


every  prayer  are  heard  and  answered  by  thee  in 
thine  own  eternal  way. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  the  afflicted  ones 
around,  upon  the  homes  of  mankind,  those  of 
our  fellow  citizens  and  countrymen,  of  neighbor- 
ing towns  and  cities;  and  may  our  hearts  be 
taught  by  wisdom,  by  truth,  and  by  love,  that 
we  may  learn  more  and  more  that  we  are  all  one 
and  another  united  to  each  other,  and  to  all  and 
to  thee. 

Our  Father,  forgive  our  sins;  help  us,  we 
pray  thee,  help  us  to  renounce  those  sins  of 
which  we  do  humbly  repent;  and  by  thy  love 
wash  away  even  the  last  remnant  of  their  power 
over  us,  so  that  we  may  go  forth  free  and  strong 
in  heart,  and  that  through  all  our  earthly  years, 
whatever  scars  we  wear  may  all  be  healed  and 
made  pure  and  clean  as  the  flesh  of  a  child. 

Almighty  God,  order  thou  our  way  for  us  in 
thy  word;  lead  us  by  thy  strong  and  mighty 
hand ;  give  us  something  of  thy  paternal  strength 
and  something  abundantly  of  thine  eternal 
peace.  AMEN. 

0  thou  Almighty,  terrible,  lovely  One,  come 
now  by  thy  Spirit  of  grace  to  our  hearts ;  take  us 
into  thy  great  companionship  and  partnership  of 
work  in  the  world ;  fill  our  minds  with  a  sense  of 
the  worthiness  of  our  earthly  vocation;  lift  us 

83 


up  above  its  horrors  or  accidents ;  give  us  a  keen 
and  tender  heart  and  a  sensibility  of  beauty,  and 
in  whatever  time  of  peace  or  prosperity,  of  peril 
or  safety  we  may  be,  may  we  be  staid  and 
steadied  upon  thee,  our  Rock,  our  Refuge,  our 
Defense.  AMEN. 


84 


JUNE  9,  1889  -  EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  thou  whose  protecting  care  is 
over  all  thy  works,  and  whose  Spirit  inspires  our 
souls,  we  thank  thee,  as  we  always  do,  for  the 
common  blessings  of  our  lot,  for  the  privileges, 
the  charities,  the  opportunities,  and  the  blessings 
of  this  day ;  and  now  in  the  evening  hour  we  im- 
plore again  thy  protecting  care,  and  cast  our- 
selves with  filial  trust  upon  thine  almighty  arm. 
Goodness  and  mercy  have  followed  us  all  the  days 
of  our  lives ;  our  cup  runneth  over ;  we  have  more 
than  enough,  and  our  hearts  are  satisfied  of  thy 
mercy  and  of  thy  goodness.  Let  thy  tender,  holy 
providences,  we  pray  thee,  be  everywhere  to- 
night. Watch  with  those  that  watch;  listen  to 
the  prayer  of  those  who  are  cast  down  and  brok- 
en-hearted; and  the  sigh  of  the  oppressed,  let 
that  come  up  before  thee ;  and  give  blessing  and 
grace,  and  relief  and  benediction. 

Almighty  One,  Holy  Father,  thou  who  know- 
est  the  mystery,  and  the  pain,  and  the  gladness, 
and  the  hope,  and  the  sorrow  of  the  human  heart, 
let  thine  ear  be  open,  and  let  thy  heart  be  full  of 
love  toward  thy  weak,  broken,  erring,  and  wan- 

85 


dering  ones.  Forgive  with  the  freedom  of  thine 
own  Spirit ;  restore  with  the  beneficence  of  thine 
eternal  mercy ;  blot  out  the  transgressions  of  thy 
children  and  remove  their  sins  from  them  as  far 
as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  and  let  them  be 
ever  renewed  in  thy  Spirit  and  thy  grace. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  that  Holy 
One,  that  pure  and  divine  ensample  of  man- 
kind,— thy  Son,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Son  of  Man. 
We  implore  thee  that  his  divine  life,  his  pure 
heart,  his  mysterious  communion  with  God,  his 
divine  truth,  his  holy  pattern,  may  ever  be  before 
us;  and  in  the  incidents  of  his  life  on  earth,  in 
his  going  from  house  to  house,  from  village  to 
village,  may  we  see  the  wonderful  connection  of 
his  history  with  the  life  of  mankind,  and  let  his 
pattern  be  ever  in  our  hearts,  and  give  us  insight 
and  grace  to  interpret  the  meaning  of  life. 

Almighty  One,  let  thy  tender  mercy  be  every- 
where. Restore,  bless,  inspire,  and  let  thy  Spirit 
be  ever  enchurching  itself  in  this  human 
world, — a  figure  of  that  divine  and  eternal  so- 
ciety which  thou  wouldst  raise  up,  which  thy 
Son  called  the  kingdom  of  God.  AMEN. 

0  thou  Inspirer  of  all,  inspire  and  teach  our 
hearts  to  see  the  spiritual  meaning  of  things,  and 
to  transform  our  daily  life  into  beauty  and  glad- 
ness and  joy.  By  thy  grace  and  by  thy  Spirit 


may  we  be  a  blessing  to  those  around  us;  and 
may  life  be  relieved  of  some  of  its  burdens ;  may 
strength  be  given  to  bear  those  burdens  well; 
and  may  gladness  be  refined,  may  joy  be  purified, 
and  grief  blessed  to  all.  AMEN. 


JUNE  16,  1889  — MOENING 

0  INFINITE  AND  HOLY  ONE,  God,  our  Father  in 
heaven,  it's  a  pleasant  thing  to  behold  the  sun; 
life  is  sweet,  its  fruits  are  fair,  and  it  is  good  to 
live.  We  walk  about  in  the  fair  light  of  day ;  we 
look  upon  the  heavens  above,  abroad  upon  the 
earth  beneath  and  upon  the  great  wide  sea, — thy 
power  and  Spirit  are  ever  present;  thy  inspira- 
tion is  nigh  unto  us  that  we  should  not  ascend  to 
the  heavens  after  it,  nor  cross  the  sea  that  it 
should  be  brought  to  us;  thine  ever-present  in- 
spirations are  in  our  hearts,  and  intelligence  and 
reason  and  faith  and  love  spring  forth  from  the 
touch  of  thy  almighty  being. 

We  come  to  thee  again  now  in  the  morning,  on 
the  return  of  the  day  and  the  week,  to  our  place 
of  prayer.  Come  with  thy  people;  give  us  the 
gracious  and  blessed  communion  of  thy  presence 
and  thy  Spirit;  give  us  that  vision  of  our  own 
nature,  our  own  weakness,  our  own  possible  com- 
munion with  thee,  that  shall  at  once  make  us 
humble,  meek,  and  teachable,  and  make  us  aspir- 
ing and  strong  and  faithful  in  the  vision  of 
God. 


We  implore  thee  heavenly  Father,  that  the 
days  and  weeks  and  years,  with  their  ever-re- 
turning round  of  duty,  joy  or  trial,  grief  or  sor- 
row, may  bring  to  thy  children  deeper  wisdom 
and  deeper  insight  into  the  meaning  of  the 
world,  and  shall  make  us  at  home  with  thee 
where  we  are, — at  home  wherever  we  may  be,  at 
home  with  God  in  the  world  that  he  has  made, 
wherever  he  provides  for  his  children,  from 
whatever  place  he  speaks  by  his  word  and  his 
Spirit. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  the  little 
things  of  our  daily  life,  those  little  things  that 
come  again  and  again  and  again, — duties  that 
are  always  pleasant,  if  our  hearts  are  lovely  and 
sweet,  duties  that  never  weary  us,  if  we  are  in- 
spired afresh  by  thy  Spirit, — of  companionships 
and  of  home ;  angelic  visitations  of  goodness  and 
beauty  and  truth,  that  sit  with  us  at  our  daily 
board,  walk  with  us  as  companions  to  the  house 
of  God,  who  beam  in  our  countenances  the  light 
of  heaven,  and  give  us  grace  and  benediction 
ever  and  ever. 

And  we  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  all 
great  deliverances  from  evil  of  any  kind,  from 
the  shock  of  any  alarm,  the  collision  of  any  of  the 
powers  of  nature,  or  the  triumphs  of  any  of  the 
instruments  of  man's  device  to  turn  and  strike 
us  with  their  blows.  Increase  our  sympathies, 


Almighty  Father;  while  we  love  one  another, 
and  while  we  love  our  friends,  and  while  we  are 
touched  with  the  sorrows  of  our  fellow  citizens 
from  afar,  even  beyond  these  horizons  of  homes 
and  neighborhoods  and  countries,  enlarge  our 
hearts  with  the  spiritual  grace  that  was  in 
Christ,  thy  Son,  that  we  may  have  something  of 
the  vision  of  humanity, — a  vision  of  the  human 
world  that  includes  every  race  and  tribe  and  na- 
tion, and  knows  and  feels  and  interprets  and  be- 
lieves in  mankind, — mankind  figured  in  the  Son 
of  God,— the  Son  of  Man. 

Almighty  One,  hear  our  prayers,  forgive  our 
sins,  give  us  tenderness  of  heart  and  humility  of 
mind,  give  us  self-respect ;  and  while  we  deplore 
our  weakness  and  our  sin,  may  we  ever  have  some 
good  reason  and  some  good  faith  in  saying  that 
there  is  much  good  in  us;  and  may  we  appeal 
unto  God,  ' '  Search  me  and  know  my  heart,  and 
see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead 
me  into  the  way  everlasting, ' ' — the  way  in  which 
my  steps  shall  never  weary,  the  road  that  shall 
ever  grow  brighter  and  brighter  to  the  perfect 
day,  the  way  of  eternal  life,  eternal  beauty,  and 
eternal  strength.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  thou  who  givest  thy  Spirit 
without  measure  to  those  who  will  receive  it,  in- 
crease our  faith,  and  increase  our  belief  in  our 
90 


faith,  our  courage  in  it,  our  trust  in  ourselves, 
and  our  trust  in  God;  and  may  thy  Spirit  rest 
upon  us  abundantly,  giving  us  a  new  baptism, 
adopting  us  day  by  day  into  thy  heavenly  king- 
dom, into  thy  divine  family;  and  may  we  feel 
that  we  are  not  merely  creatures  of  the  world, 
but  sons  of  God,  partakers  of  his  nature,  bound 
to  a  great  destiny,  honorable,  glorious  beyond  all 
telling  or  thinking ;  and  thus  may  we  abolish  and 
repent  of  all  our  sins ;  may  we  purify  our  hearts 
even  as  God  is  pure,  and,  lifted  up  by  thee,  may 
no  harm  come  to  thy  people.  AMEN. 


91 


JUNE  16,  1889  — EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  thou  Infinite  in  power  and  good- 
ness, we  come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer;  we 
give  thee  thanksgiving ;  we  bow  in  reverence,  we 
humble  ourselves  penitently  and  contritely,  and 
lift  up  our  hearts  unto  thee,  to  cry  unto  thee 
from  the  depths  and  from  the  heights, — from  the 
depths  of  lowly  penitence,  and  from  the  heights 
of  awful  joy. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  pleasant  day,  and  now 
for  the  gentle  night;  for  all  the  cheerful  and 
sweet  opportunities  of  life  that  we  have  en- 
joyed,— the  companionship  of  home,  friends, 
children,  father,  and  mother;  for  the  gentle  re- 
lease from  the  ordinary  cares  of  life,  for  the 
change  of  opportunity;  for  the  blessed  privilege 
of  refreshing  our  own  minds  and  hearts,  and 
our  own  bodies,  with  rest  and  peace  and  holy 
contemplation  and  cheerful  talk  and  pleasant 
charities.  And  we  thank  thee,  Almighty  God, 
always  that  we  may  ever  bear  in  mind  thy  great 
goodness  to  us,  thy  children ;  if  we  would  count 
thy  mercies  we  could  not  tell  one  in  a  thousand 
of  them ;  they  are  as  common  as  the  day,  cheerful 

92 


and  abundant  as  the  light  that  descends  upon  us 
like  the  early  and  the  latter  rain,  and  the  foun- 
tains of  life  are  filled  with  thine  abundant  good- 
ness. 

Almighty  God,  what  more  can  we  ask?  We 
would  ever  ask  and  implore  thine  inspiring 
Spirit  that  we  may  discern  thy  providence  and 
thy  goodness ;  that  we  may  have  heavenly  visions 
of  thy  own  being  and  power  and  excellence  and 
greatness  and  majesty ;  that  we  may  love  thee  for 
what  thou  art ;  that  we  may  fear  and  revere  thee 
with  holy  awe;  and  that  our  hearts  may  ever 
bend  in  great  humility,  in  humble  reverence  be- 
fore thee. 

Help  us,  we  pray  thee,  by  thy  Spirit,  each  one 
of  us,  to  live  faithfully  and  honestly  according 
to  the  best  thoughts,  the  best  things,  the  best 
faith  and  hope  in  us.  Deal  not  with  us,  our  God, 
too  severely ;  reprove  us  gently  if  thou  wilt,  and 
lead  us  in  the  way  of  thy  commandment  by  a 
strong  but  tender  hand.  Reprove  us  if  thou 
wilt,  reprove  us  for  our  sins ;  chastise  us  by  thy 
paternal  love,  and  let  us  with  teachable,  devout, 
and  childlike  minds  learn  that  thy  wisdom  is 
better  than  our  knowledge,  and  that  our  knowl- 
edge may  be  but  folly  compared  with  that  wis- 
dom. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  abroad  upon  all  thy  com- 
mon human  family ;  wherever  the  shades  of  night 


are  falling,  there  watch  with  thy  protecting  care 
and  paternal  love ;  and  wherever  the  sun  is  rising 
afresh  upon  the  earth,  upon  distant  habitations 
and  populations  of  men,  there  let  thy  goodness 
be  abundant  as  his  beams,  bringing  light  and 
gladness  and  peace  and  joy. 

Holy  Father,  hear  our  prayer,  forgive  our 
sins,  lead  us  always  in  the  plain  path  of  duty, 
and  give  us  a  heart  of  fortitude,  strength,  and 
courage,  gentleness  and  beauty;  and  let  us  ever 
be  satisfied  with  the  abundance  of  the  goodness 
of  God.  AMEN. 


JUNE  23,  1889 

0  GOD,  our  Father  in  Heaven,  day  unto  day 
uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth 
knowledge  of  thee ;  thy  commandments  are  pure, 
thy  statutes  are  right,  and  thy  word  is  gone  forth 
in  all  places  of  thy  dominion.  We,  thy  children, 
guided  by  thy  providence,  sustained  by  thy  pow- 
er, inspired  by  thy  Spirit,  the  creatures  of  thy 
hand,  the  sons  of  thy  love,  would  come  unto  thee, 
unto  thee,  0  God,  almighty,  all-good,  all-wise. 
Thy  mightiness,  thy  goodness,  and  thy  wisdom 
are  ever  on  our  behalf.  Thy  providence  is  gra- 
cious ;  thy  tender  mercies  are  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting ;  and  thy  goodness  is  without  bounds. 
If  we  have  gone  astray,  we  would  come  back ;  if 
we  have  been  led  by  follies,  we  would  return  to 
thy  wisdom;  if  we  have  fallen  into  sin  or  any 
wrong,  we  implore  thy  forgiveness ;  and  we  pray 
thee  to  stretch  forth  thine  hand  and  lift  us  up, 
and  lead  us  in  the  way  everlasting. 

In  all  our  experiences  we  have  had  the  faith, 
the  divine  gift  of  God,  to  believe  that  somehow 
there  was  a  power  above  us, — a  wisdom  and  a 
goodness  greater  than  we  know;  and  thy  chil- 

95 


dren,  in  their  faithful  hearts,  have  chosen  rather 
to  be  led  by  thee  in  darkness  than  to  walk  alone 
at  noonday.  The  testimony  of  thy  believing  ones 
on  earth  has  ever  been  the  same, — that  they  have 
trusted  thee,  and  they  have  never  been  de- 
frauded, they  have  never  been  confounded,  but 
have  found  in  thee  their  all ;  enough  to  be  satis- 
fied with  thy  being  and  thy  love,  and  satisfied 
with  the  soundness  of  their  own  hearts. 

Almighty  God,  give  us,  we  pray  thee,  such 
simpleness  of  mind,  such  purity  of  thought,  and 
such  heroism  of  conduct  that  we  may  have  no 
doubt  who  is  God.  May  we  have  no  question,  no 
word  of  decision,  as  to  whom  we  would  serve; 
but  may  we  set  before  our  hearts  the  very  highest 
objects  that  it  is  possible  to  conceive  of, — the 
Supreme  Good,  the  Perfect  Wisdom,  the  Al- 
mighty Love ;  and  to  these  great  purposes  in  our 
hearts  and  to  the  simplicity  of  our  endeavor,  to 
the  purity  of  our  devotion,  do  thou  add  such 
things  in  this  world  as  seem  to  thee  good.  May 
we  be  chiefly  concerned  for  the  kingdom  of  God ; 
add  thou  the  other  things  as  thou  wilt;  we  will 
receive  them  in  greater  or  in  smaller  supplies, — 
we  will  receive  them  as  from  thy  hand,  and  trust 
that  all  is  for  the  best,  and  though  we  lose  yet 
we  shall  win,  and  though  we  die  yet  we  shall  live. 

Almighty  God,  let  thy  blessing  be  upon  thy 
people  here  now,  as  we  come  again  to  our  morn- 


ing  service  and  prayer.  Consecrate  unto  us  all 
the  experiences  of  the  past  week;  and  to  thy 
servants,  endeared  to  one  another  and  endeared 
to  thee,  let  thy  providence  seem  all  grace  and 
love,  and  over  all  the  scene  of  this  our  earthly  lot 
may  there  be  a  celestial  light,  a  divine  peace,  a 
heavenly  glory;  and  while  our  feet  walk  upon 
the  dust  of  the  earth,  may  our  hearts  ascend  into 
the  mountain-heights  of  prayer  and  peace. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  abroad,  0  God,  upon  all 
the  earth  as  far  as  the  beams  of  the  sun,  and 
wherever  the  sun  is  rising,  and  wherever  it  is 
setting,  there  let  thy  glory  be  in  lingering  beams 
or  in  rising  beauty,  and  bless  and  guide  and  pity 
and  comfort  mankind.  And  may  we  learn  more 
and  more  to  be  altogether  human ;  may  we  desire 
the  greatest  of  all  gifts, — that  we  may  have  a 
spirit  to  share  the  common  lot  of  men,  to  sympa- 
thize with  the  common  heart,  to  believe  in  the 
common  good,  to  worship,  to  serve,  and  to  love 
the  common  God. 

Hear  our  prayer,  forgive  our  sins,  and  give  us 
answer  of  abundant  peace  and  grace,  according 
to  thy  word.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  confirm  in  our 
hearts  now  the  truth  that  we  most  deeply  feel; 
give  us  the  courage  and  strength  of  it;  give  us 
the  peace  and  hope  of  it.  Let  thy  good  provi- 

97 


dence  protect  us;  let  thy  Spirit  inspire  us;  go 
with  those  that  go,  stay  with  those  that  stay,  and 
come  with  those  that  come ;  and  wherever  we  may 
be,  by  night  or  day,  on  sea  or  land,  may  we  be 
quite  at  home  in  our  Heavenly  Father's  house, 
and  may  we  feel  that  it  is  as  near  heaven  from 
either  mountain-top,  or  valley,  or  sea,  and  that 
wherever  we  are  thou  art.  AMEN. 


AUGUST  4,  1889 
THOU  EVER-GRACIOUS  AND  MERCIFUL   ONE, — thou 

Guardian  and  Guide  of  all  thy  people, — blessed 
art  thou  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  Infinite 
and  Holy  One,  we  come  again  to  our  place  of 
prayer;  here  we  are  in  thy  presence  according 
to  our  accustomed  habit;  restored  again  to  one 
another, — never  separated  in  our  love  from  one 
another  or  from  thee, — and  now  we  come  again 
with  holy  and  revering  minds,  with  devout  and 
loving  temper,  with  gratitude  and  joy,  with 
awful  gladness  and  holy  mirth;  and  we  give 
thee  praise  and  thanksgiving  for  thy  goodness, 
we  adore  thy  power,  and  we  intrust  ourselves 
to  that  goodness  and  to  that  power  with  filial 
confidence  and  filial  love.  We  thank  thee  for 
the  common  goodness  that  is  over  all  thy  works, 
and  that  ministers  to  the  happiness  and  comfort 
of  all  thy  creatures;  and  that  we  can  believe 
and  feel  and  trust  that,  whatever  comes  to  us, 
thou  art  working  with  thine  eternal  good-will, 
thy  long-minded  ways  of  wisdom  and  love  and 
truth  and  goodness.  And  we  thank  thee  that, 
in  the  daily  experiences  of  life,  we  can  turn  to 


thee  with  devout  confidence,  with  devout  and 
pure  filial  affection,  and  that  thou  art  always 
for  us,  that  thou  dost  whisper  every  word  of 
peace  in  our  hearts,  thou  dost  kindle  every 
divine  imagination,  thou  dost  lead  us  on  and  on 
through  every  trial,  and  support  us  by  a  power 
greater  than  ourselves;  and  we  thank  thee  with 
revering  filial  sentiments  that  when  we  have 
been  low  and  weak  and  troubled  with  pain  and 
grief  we  have  been  able  to  sustain  it,  and  have 
been  borne  up  by  a  mighty  Spirit  greater  than 
our  will;  and  we  have  been  let  into  the  mystery 
of  suffering, — the  wonder  of  affliction, — and  we 
have  seen  the  beauty  and  love  of  thine  own 
face. 

And  now,  Almighty  God,  our  Father,  we  ask 
thy  blessing  upon  all  thy  children  here, — upon 
us  all,  according  to  our  experiences,  our  wants, 
our  joy,  our  grief,  our  suffering,  or  our  glad- 
ness. The  cup  of  life  is  mingled  by  a  wise  and 
merciful  hand;  human  tears  are  tender  and 
lovely,  human  hearts  are  sweet  and  true ;  and  we 
thank  thee  that,  however  the  world  has  used  us, 
whatever  disappointments  it  has  brought  to  us, 
however  wicked  we  sometimes  may  think  it  is, 
we  bless  thee  for  the  sight  of  those  whom  we 
never  doubted,  for  eyes  into  whose  depths  we 
look  with  complete  trust,  for  hearts  of  which  we 
never  had  one  suspicion,  and  for  consciences 
100 


and  spirits  which  stand  erect  as  bright  angels 
before  the  face  of  God. 

And  now,  holy  Father,  lead  thy  people  on, — 
lead  them  by  their  hopes,  by  their  trusts,  by 
their  conscious  rectitude  toward  one  another  and 
toward  thee,  and  let  all  thy  will,  perfect  and 
holy  and  true,  be  fulfilled  in  us.  Let  thy  bless- 
ing be  upon  all  those  whom  we  think  of  now, 
whom  we  would  bless,  and  we  implore  thy  power 
and  care  for  them;  and  let  us  learn,  as  wisdom 
increases  in  our  hearts,  that  they  can  never  be 
widely  separated  who  are  bound  in  bonds  of 
love  to  one  another,  who  think  the  same  thoughts, 
live  the  same  duties,  love  the  same  God  and 
Father  always.  AMEN. 

Holy  One,  thou  Dweller  in  the  heavens,  and 
who  makest  thy  presence  and  thy  heaven  in  the 
pure  heart,  let  now  thy  peace  come  to  the  wait- 
ing minds  and  thoughts  of  thy  children;  love 
us  with  thy  boundless  love,  and  deal  with  us 
with  all  thy  tender  pity.  And  may  we,  by  lov- 
ing thee,  know  thee  fully,  and  know  thee  all 
in  all. 

Hear  our  prayer,  forgive  our  sins,  and  let  thy 
wisdom,  and  thy  goodness,  and  thine  eternal 
good-will,  be  for  us  now  and  for  evermore. 
AMEN. 


101 


AUGUST  18,  1889 

0  GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  we,  thy  children, 
often  come  to  thee  to  tell  thee  our  wants,  our 
cares,  our  trials,  our  blessings,  and  our  joys.  We 
come  to  thee  now  in  our  accustomed  place  of 
prayer  with  all  the  common  and  oft-repeated 
stories  of  childhood  wants,  of  gentle  and  tender 
love,  of  much  weakness  and  impatience  and 
want  of  trust,  it  may  be,  but  yet  with  a  keen  and 
tender  feeling  for  thy  care,  for  thy  love,  thy 
wisdom,  and  thy  power.  We  believe  and  feel, 
and  we  bless  thee,  that  wherever  we  have  wan- 
dered thou  hast  never  forgotten  us,  in  whatever 
paths  we  have  strayed  thy  heart  has  ever  pur- 
sued us,  and  in  the  midst  of  indifference  or  in- 
gratitude thou  hast  still  longed  for  us,  and 
waited  and  waited,  and  believed  in  us,  and  hoped 
in  us,  and  expected  in  us.  And  now  we  come, 
Almighty  God,  our  Father,  we  come, — and  let  us 
fulfill  thy  hope,  the  hope  of  thy  paternal  heart 
concerning  us.  We  come  to  this  our  place  of 
prayer  which  we  call  thy  house;  we  look  up  to 
thee  with  filial  trust  and  confidence,  because  we 
believe  and  trust  thee  evermore. 

And  now,  of  thine  abundant  grace,  of  thy  wis- 
102 


dom  and  thy  goodness,  let  thy  heart  be  blessed, 
and  let  our  hearts  be  at  rest  and  restored  by  the 
plenitude  of  thy  grace.  Forgive  our  sins,  we 
pray  thee;  and  our  sins  which  we  do  honestly 
and  sincerely  forsake,  0  God,  remove  them  from 
us,  we  pray  thee,  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the 
west;  and  if  we  do  return  from  wandering  and 
forgetfulness,  from  many  ways  of  sin  or  wrong 
or  doubt  or  weakness, — if  we  return,  0  God,  go 
forth  to  meet  us ;  fall  upon  us  as  upon  a  return- 
ing prodigal,  and  speak  not  a  word  to  us  of  our 
past,  reproach  us  not  with  sins  that  are  gone; 
but  welcome  us  to  our  home,  welcome  us  to  thy 
heart,  and  give  us  the  repose  and  the  abundant 
love  of  thy  house. 

We  thank  thee  always  for  the  common  bless- 
ings of  our  lot;  teach  us  wisdom,  that  we  may 
see  those  blessings  and  that  we  may  use  them 
well.  Save  us  from  selfishness;  save  us  from 
conceit  in  prosperity  and  from  despair  in  adver- 
sity ;  and  may  we  keep  that  pure  and  true  way, — 
the  way  of  eternal  life,  the  way  of  upright  will, 
or  pure  affection,  of  true  conscience  and  imagi- 
nation that  dwells  face  to  face  with  God. 

We  ask  thy  blessing,  thou  holy,  terrible,  and 
Almighty  One;  we  ask  thy  blessing  upon  the 
fortunes  and  events  and  experiences  of  universal 
man  on  earth, — mankind,  thy  children,  human 
society,  the  Church  of  God.  Over  all  man's 
103 


ignorance,  and  passion,  and  strife,  and  jealousy, 
and  wrong,  and  despair,  and  cruelty  reign  by 
thy  power  and  wisdom,  and  make  the  desert 
places  of  ignorance  and  wrong  bloom  with  the 
beauty  of  righteousness  and  truth  and  peace. 
Enable  us  in  our  hearts,  each  one  of  us,  to  bring 
this  thy  kingdom;  in  our  homes  set  up  this  em- 
pire; and,  confident  in  thee,  our  Maker,  led  by 
the  word  and  gospel  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
may  we  hold  on  our  way  with  steady  steps,  with 
gentle  hearts,  taught  by  thee,  secure  in  eternal 
strength  and  eternal  peace.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  hear  us  now.  The 
thoughts  that  we  think,  the  words  that  we  speak, 
the  resolves  we  make,  may  they  all  seem  good  in 
thy  sight,  and  may  they  be  consecrated  in  our 
hearts  to  devout  and  holy  purpose.  May  we  be 
undeceived  in  regard  to  all  things  of  vanity  and 
weakness  in  the  world;  may  we  be  kings,  each 
one  of  us  in  his  domain  and  dominion.  May  our 
own  nature  serve,  and  may  it  be  glorified  by 
serving  thee ;  and  as  we  look  out  upon  the  world, 
the  human  world,  over  all  its  wrongs  and  vio- 
lence and  sin,  may  we  love  it  still;  may  we  be 
fond  of  thinking  of  it;  and  may  visions  of  pro- 
phetic power  and  glory  for  its  future,  its  great- 
ness, and  its  eternal  kingdom  ever  dawn  upon 
our  souls.  AMEN. 

104 


AUGUST  25,  1889 

ALL  eyes  do  wait  on  thee;  all  creatures  look  to 
thee;  thou  guidest  them  with  thy  hand,  and 
givest  them  their  meed  in  due  season.  The  earth 
turns  steadily  by  thy  power;  the  ocean  rolls  in 
the  hollow  of  thy  hand.  Almighty  Being,  terri- 
ble One,  glorious  in  majesty,  of  eternal  beauty, 
eternal  excellence,  goodness,  and  love,  we  come  to 
thee.  We  come  to  our  place  of  prayer, — we  love 
it,  we  revere  it,  because  here  we  have  seen  thy 
face ;  here  we  have  heard  thy  counsels ;  here  our 
hearts  have  been  lifted  up  on  the  wings  of 
prayer,  and  peace  has  come  to  our  thoughtful 
minds  or  to  our  afflicted  hearts  and  our  longing 
souls.  And  now  we  come  in  the  return  of  the 
days  of  the  week  again  with  our  oft-repeated 
story  of  this  life,  with  its  ever-returning  wants, 
with  its  constant  themes  of  joy  and  gratitude, 
and  pain  and  grief  and  sorrow,  with  its  note  of 
gladness,  and  its  deep  wail  of  discontent  and  un- 
happiness.  Almighty  One,  thou  Infinite  One, 
hear  the  prayer  of  thy  people,  spoken  or  not, 
uttered  or  unexpressed, — hear  the  prayer  of  thy 
people.  Forgive  our  sins.  Give  us  that  peace 

105 


of  mind  that  coines  of  upright  will  and  good  con- 
science,— the  consciousness  of  service  honestly 
rendered,  and  work  well  done,  and  duty  faith- 
fully discharged;  the  consciousness  that  in  our 
hearts  there  are  no  passions  or  sentiments  of 
wrong,  and  no  selfish  desires  or  self-will. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  what  we 
call  thy  providence,  thy  care,  thy  protecting 
power;  and  we  praise  thee  that  amid  all  the 
realm  of  things  unknown  we  may  commit  all  to 
an  infinite  wisdom,  to  a  faithful  love,  to  an 
almighty  power  that  can  suffer  no  wrong  to 
come  to  any  human  soul.  We  rejoice  in  the  com- 
mon conquests  of  the  human  mind  over  this  out- 
ward world.  We  rejoice  in  every  triumph  of 
intelligence,  in  every  victory  of  reason,  in  every 
noble  ascent  and  heavenly  outlook  of  human 
faith.  We  are  sometimes  oppressed  by  the  vast 
"  Unknown, " — how  much  more  vast  than  all  we 
know  or  think  or  feel, — and  as  we  go  forth  day 
by  day  with  something  uncertain  always  in  our 
lot,  some  unlooked-for  event,  some  strange  and 
unreconciled  power  that  mingles  with  our  daily 
fortunes  and  lives,  we  would  go  forth,  0  God, 
sowing  seed  of  truth  and  virtue  and  honor,  with- 
out a  doubt  that,  whether  we  know  this  or  that 
shall  prosper,  or  whether  both  alike  shall  grow, 
we  nevertheless  trust  to  thee  that  what  is  best 
will  be. 

106 


Almighty  God,  our  Father,  temper  our  hearts 
to  the  common  providences  of  this  life.  Teach 
us  that  there  is  a  bound  to  our  earthly  lot  and 
the  end  will  come,  and  deliver  us  from  all  sur- 
prise at  it;  and  when  our  fellows,  our  fellow 
beings,  our  neighbors,  our  friends,  our  lovers, 
die,  may  we  not  feel  surprised  at  it ;  may  we  not 
be  taken  by  sudden  alarm;  but  may  our  well- 
taught  hearts  know  that  this  is  the  way  of 
Heaven,  that  it  is  the  appointment  of  God ;  that 
affliction  in  any  form  comes  not  from  the  air, 
that  it  comes  not  from  the  earth  beneath,  but 
man  is  born  with  it, — it  is  a  part  of  his  lot,  a 
part  of  his  inheritance, — yea,  a  part  of  the  ap- 
pointment and  will  of  God ;  and  so  may  our  will 
bow  down  to  that  will  with  noble  act,  sure  devo- 
tion, divine  insight,  immortal  wisdom;  so  keep 
us,  so  replenish  our  hearts  by  thy  grace,  and  for- 
giving all  our  sins  that  we  do  honestly  forsake, 
let  the  power  of  eternal  life  ever  abide  in  us,  and 
let  us  commit  the  keeping  of  our  souls  to  God,  as 
those  who  are  risen  from  the  dead.  AMEN. 

Hear  now  our  prayer;  fulfill  in  our  hearts 
those  things  that  we  do  most  sincerely  and  faith- 
fully desire, — to  be  at  one  with  ourselves,  at  one 
with  the  world,  and  at  one  with  God.  Reveal 
unto  us  a  plain  path  of  duty,  and  increase  the 
brightness  of  that  light  that  lighteth  every  man 
107 


that  cometh  into  the  world;  and  may  we  know 
what  it  is  to  be  at  one  with  God,  and  to  know 
that  our  will  and  thy  will  are  ever  in  divine  ac- 
cord. Lead  us  in  times  of  difficulty  and  danger ; 
wipe  the  tears  from  our  eyes  in  days  of  grief  and 
anguish;  lift  us  up  from  affliction  and  from  all 
fear;  and  reveal  unto  us  the  ways  of  thy  spirit, 
the  glory  of  thy  truth,  and  the  awful  beauty  of 
thine  own  being.  AMEN. 


108 


SEPTEMBEE  1,  1889 

0  INFINITE  AND  HOLY  ONE, — thou  almighty,  ter- 
rible, lovely,  true,  and  good, — we,  thy  children, 
come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer.  We  come 
from  the  busy  scenes  of  life,  its  absorbing  cares, 
its  frequent  perplexities,  its  deep  trials,  and  its 
dark  sorrows.  We  come  to  ascend  up  into  the 
mountains,  into  the  heights  above  the  clouds, 
above  the  dust  of  earth, — to  rest,  to  look  abroad, 
to  lift  up  our  hearts  in  prayer,  to  bow  down  in 
holy  adoration,  in  awful  fear,  and  to  rise  up  in 
childlike  trust. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  gentle  day.  We  thank 
thee  for  the  silent  night;  for  their  ever-steady 
succession  and  order  and  beauty  and  peace.  Re- 
freshed and  strengthened,  man  goes  forth  to  his 
labor  in  the  morning  and  returns  again  at  even- 
ing. The  ever-coming  round  of  daily  duty,  of 
daily  want,  of  returning  feeling  of  gladness  and 
gratitude,  or  pains  and  regrets,  0  God,  in  these 
thy  children  find  a  mighty  teaching,  a  wondrous 
guidance,  a  mysterious  presence,  and  an  al- 
mighty power.  We  are  sometimes  quite  con- 

109 


fused  and  in  darkness;  we  are  sometimes  led  to 
shining  heights  of  glory  and  of  peace ;  and  some- 
times we  are  quite  perplexed, — even  not  to  know 
whether  thou  thyself  art,  or  whether  life  here 
hath  any  destiny.  In  all  these  vicissitudes  of 
our  feelings,  in  all  these  trials  of  our  experience, 
0  God,  minister  unto  us  gently;  speak  to  us  as 
to  children;  take  us  by  the  hand;  tell  us  the 
simple  story  of  thy  love,  and  tell  our  hearts  to  be 
still  and  quiet  in  thy  presence. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  that  there  is 
such  depth  in  our  experience  that  we  cannot 
fathom  it;  that  there  are  times  when  in  our 
hearts  there  is  much  that  we  cannot  utter,  and 
even  thought  itself  cannot  reach  these  heights. 
Blessed  be  thy  name  and  thy  grace  for  the 
mysteries  of  our  being,  for  the  wonders  of  our 
experience,  for  the  strange  and  mighty  guidance 
of  our  earthly  lot.  Remove  from  our  hearts  and 
our  minds,  we  pray  thee,  all  vain  conceits,  all 
vain  wisdom;  and  may  we  accept  at  thy  hand 
our  daily  lot,  our  daily  experience,  whatever  it 
is ;  and  teach  our  minds  and  our  hearts  to  make 
the  best  of  it, — the  best  of  it,  by  a  pure  temper, 
by  a  consecrated  will,  by  a  readiness  to  follow 
the  leading  of  thy  hand  and  to  accept  the  ap- 
pointments of  thy  love. 

We  ask  thy  blessing,  Almighty  Father,  upon 
all  those  who  are  dear  to  us, — upon  our  neigh- 
110 


bors,  our  friends,  those  bound  to  us  by  ties  of 
kindred  blood,  and  those  who  are  bound  to  us  by 
that  great  human  friendship  that  makes  life 
lovely,  that  consecrates  our  being  here  on  earth, 
and  which  grows  dearer  and  dearer  to  us  as  our 
paths  stretch  on  and  on.  Let  thy  blessing  be  in 
tender  mercy  upon  all  fortunes  and  classes  and 
conditions  of  men, — those  who  are  put  to  hard 
extremity  with  distresses  of  many  kinds,  those 
who  are  bowed  down  with  heavy  and  deep  trials, 
those  who  by  the  humbleness  of  their  labor  help 
to  give  us  decency,  comfort,  refinement,  and 
luxury;  and  may  our  human  sympathy  be  so 
true,  our  spiritual  insight  so  penetrating,  that 
no  human  being  may  ever  seem  unworthy,  com- 
mon, indifferent,  or  lost  in  our  sight. 

And  now,  Almighty  God,  let  thy  blessing  be 
upon  us.  Let  our  contemplation  be  reverent  and 
devout,  our  teaching  pure  and  sincere,  and  all 
our  service  may  it  be  worthy  ourselves,  and 
worthy  of  thee.  AMEN. 

0  God,  thou  Inspirer  of  all,  lift  up  our  minds, 
we  pray  thee,  to  discern  the  greater  truth  of  our 
being, — the  bond  that  binds  us  to  thee,  and  the 
great  vocation  we  have  in  thee,  our  God.  Trans- 
form our  daily  labor  into  a  school  of  moral 
beauty ;  transfigure  our  trials  into  discipline  of  a 
saintly  spirit,  and  walk  with  us  through  fire  or 
ill 


flood,  through  joy  or  gladness ;  and  let  our  rever- 
ence and  our  peace  be  the  pledge  of  our  union 
with  God.  AMEN. 


112 


SEPTEMBER  8,  1889 

0  THOU  ALMIGHTY  AND  MYSTERIOUS  ONE,  thou 
who  hast  all  things  and  all  power  and  kingdom 
and  glory,  who  art  without  beginning  of  days  or 
end  of  years,  in  whose  Almighty  Being  all  crea- 
tures live,  whose  inspiration  giveth  us  under- 
standing, whose  holy  providence  protects  us,  and 
whose  Spirit  inspires  us, — we  love  to  recite  thy 
glory  with  reverent  and  devout  hearts.  We  speak 
thy  name,  and  wonder  and  awe  and  glory  and 
majesty  and  beauty  bow  us  down. 

We  are  come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer. 
We  have  come  in  a  day  of  memory;*  we  have 
come  in  a  day  when  recollection  goes  back  for 
a  little  space  of  years,  and  returns  again 
freighted  with  great  gratitude,  serene  and  happy 
joy,  triumphs  over  many  trials,  burdens  borne 
gladly,  griefs  accepted  patiently,  and  triumphs 
of  faith  that  stand  on  mountain  heights  of  ex- 
ceeding beauty.  For  these,  0  God,  we  bless 
thee ;  for  these  we  bow  in  proud  humility  before 
thee,  and  speak  thy  name  with  shout  and  joy 
and  gladness. 

And  we  thank  thee  now,  as  we  look  back  a 

*This  service  was  conducted  with  special  reference  to  the 
fact  of  the  day  being  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Dr. 
Stebbins's  presence  as  pastor  in  the  church. 

113 


little  to  call  to  mind  the  things  and  events  of 
other  days,  to  review  in  the  stream  of  life  faces 
that  were  once  familiar,  whose  images  are  still 
fresh,  and  whose  hearts  are  still  dear  to  us, — 
we  thank  thee  for  the  ever-flowing  stream  that 
never  flows  by,  but  is  ever  refreshed  from  eternal 
fountains, — the  stream  of  life  and  of  being  and 
of  love.  We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  the 
token  we  have  in  our  hearts  and  in  the  world 
around  us  of  the  increasing  kingdom  of  God,  the 
power  of  man's  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiri- 
tual nature,  the  increase  of  intelligence,  the  in- 
crease of  justice,  the  increase  of  truth,  and  for 
the  feeling  that  those  have  who  have  the  great- 
est confidence  in  thy  power,  that  we  are  ever 
living  in  the  morning  of  the  world,  that  light  is 
ever  dawning,  the  sun  is  ever  rising,  noonday 
splendors  are  ever  overhead,  and  sunset  glories 
are  ever  in  the  west.  For  this  mysterious  pres- 
ence, for  this  manifestation  of  thy  power  and 
thy  Spirit,  thy  sons  do  ever  bless  thee  and  re- 
joice. And,  with  deep  humility  of  heart  and 
conscious  of  weakness  and  of  sin,  we  implore 
thy  forgiveness,  and  pray  that  thy  kingdom  of 
power  may  come  for  us  on  earth.  May  it  come 
in  gentleness  of  mind,  in  purity  of  will,  in  sweet- 
ness of  temper,  in  genial  human  sympathies  with 
our  fellows,  and  in  humble,  reverent,  and  devout 
love  for  God;  and  so  may  we  be  gaining  such 

114 


foothold  in  eternal  places  that  we  shall  be  quite 
safe  amid  the  wastes  of  time,  the  vicissitudes  of 
change,  that  we  shall  be  at  home  in  the  world 
as  in  our  Heavenly  Father's  house. 

Consecrate  unto  us  now,  0  God,  all  the  kindly 
charities  of  life;  all  its  domestic  ties,  its  bonds 
of  friendship,  its  human  regards,  its  firm,  sub- 
stantial honors  and  manly  respects.  May  we 
grow  more  and  more  into  what  is  manly  and 
godly.  May  the  religion  of  thy  Son  become  to 
us  as  natural  and  as  easy  as  our  conscience,  as 
clear  as  our  reason,  and  as  pure  as  our  love; 
and  so  may  we  be  able  to  enter  to  some  extent 
into  his  experience,  and  to  say  each  one  in  a 
devout  and  triumphant  heart,  "I  and  my  Father 
are  one." 

Hear  our  prayer;  forgive  our  sins;  let  thy 
blessing  be  as  broad  and  as  wide  as  the  beams 
of  the  sun ;  let  thy  wisdom,  thy  providence,  and 
thy  grace  be  for  all  thy  human  family.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  confirm  in  our  hearts, — in  the 
hearts  of  all  Thy  people, — every  good  expe- 
rience, every  sincere  and  devout  feeling,  and 
every  consecrated  truth.  Let  thy  blessing  and 
thy  guidance  be  with  us.  Let  thy  Spirit  ever 
inspire  us,  thy  strong  hand  support  us;  and 
whether  we  are  here  or  there  may  we  be  at  home 
with  thee, — members  and  children  of  thy  com- 

115 


mon  family,  inspired  by  a  common  hope,  lifted 
up  and  blessed  by  the  gospel  of  the  truth  of  thy 
Son.  AMEN. 


116 


SEPTEMBEE  15,  1889 

0  GOD,  Almighty  One,  terrible  in  glories,  fearful 
in  praises,  lovely  in  goodness,  thy  people  come 
again  to  their  place  of  prayer.  The  day  is 
bright ;  the  sun  shines  fair  across  sea  and  land, — 
all  creatures  are  blessed  in  its  light,  and  the 
glory  of  its  beams  are  sent  far  and  wide.  We 
come  to  our  place  of  prayer.  We  gird  up  our 
souls  and  rise  up  and  bow  down  before  thee,  the 
Lord  God,  our  Maker.  Thy  goodness  is  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting,  and  thy  loving-kind- 
ness is  unsearchable.  Thy  providences  are  wise, 
and  thy  retributions  are  terrible. 

Almighty  One,  forgive  our  sins  and  separate 
them  from  us  as  wide  as  the  east  is  from  the 
west.  Give  us  the  joy  and  strength  and  satisfac- 
tion of  feeling  that,  purged  from  all  evil  and 
purified  by  penitence  and  forgiveness,  thou  hast 
washed  away  all  our  sins,  and  that  thy  Spirit 
may  descend  upon  us  saying,  "  This  is  my  be- 
loved son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased. " 

Holy  Father,  we  bless  thee  for  the  common 
sympathies  of  a  common  human  heart.  In  our 
best  moments,  when  we  rise  to  supreme  heights 
117 


above  all  selfishness,  we  are  glad  above  all  that 
thou  hast  made  us  human,  that  thou  hast  made 
us  partakers  of  a  common  nature,  that  we  are 
descended  in  a  line  of  kindred  blood  from  thy 
Spirit,  and  that  all  of  us  everywhere  have  that 
common  lot, — great,  glorious,  wonderful, — how- 
ever we  may  be  placed  by  outward  circum- 
stances, by  factitious  events,  by  uncertain  things 
of  the  world.  And  we  implore  now  thy  gracious 
pity  upon  all  human  infirmities,  weaknesses,  and 
sin.  Thou  knowest  what  is  sin;  thou  knowest 
what  is  weakness;  and  surely  thou  wilt  not 
quench  the  smoking  flax  of  feeble  desire;  thou 
wilt  not  break  the  bruised  reed  of  our  feeble 
will;  but  cherish  in  the  hearts  of  thy  children 
every  pure  sentiment,  every  pure  and  upright 
principle,  and  give  to  all  fortitude,  strength,  and 
righteousness. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  now  upon 
all  efforts  of  good  and  wise  men  everywhere,  for 
the  progress,  the  growth,  the  power  of  what 
thy  Son  called  the  kingdom  of  God, — that 
eternal  spirit  that  is  enchurching  itself  in  the 
human  heart,  that  inspiration  which  is  inspiring 
every  man,  that  spirit  diffused  through  all  intel- 
ligence,— the  kindling  fire  of  love,  of  faith,  and 
of  hope.  Let  thy  pitying  care  and  tender  mercy 
be  upon  all  those  who  are  terribly  afflicted,  who 
are  oppressed  and  bound  in  fetters  and  in  chains 

118 


of  iron.  Chastise,  correct,  admonish,  encourage, 
and  bless ;  and  let  thy  wisdom  and  thy  goodness, 
thy  eternal  power  and  righteousness,  be  ever  for 
us, — for  us  all,  and  for  thy  common  human 
family. 

This  we  ask  in  the  name  of  thy  Son,  in  the 
name  of  our  common  nature,  and  in  the  name  of 
thy  paternal  love.  AMEN. 


119 


SEPTEMBEE  22,  1889 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  thou  who  art  above  all  heights, 
who  dwellest  in  inaccessible  glory,  whom  we 
cannot  comprehend,  but  to  whom  we  stretch 
forth  feeble  hands  of  prayer  and  beseeching, 
come  to  thy  children  now  in  all  thy  gracious 
favor  and  blessed  presence;  come  to  us  in  the 
warmth  and  purity  of  our  affections,  in  the  recti- 
tude and  righteousness  of  our  will,  in  the  holy 
aspirations  of  devout  hearts,  and  by  thy  pure 
Spirit  set  us  free  from  the  ordinary  toils  and 
cares  of  life,  and  remove  from  us,  0  God,  our 
transgressions  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west. 
We  have  had  another  week  of  the  experience 
of  life.  That  experience  has  brought  to  each  one 
of  us,  in  the  way  of  thy  providence,  those  things 
which  thou,  our  Guide  and  Protector,  hast  pre- 
pared for  us.  We  have  seen  joy  and  gladness; 
we  have  seen  grief  and  sorrow;  we  have  seen 
penitence  and  exultation.  And  we  come  with  all 
our  varied  care,  with  all  our  grief,  with  all  our 
joy, — whatever  it  may  be  that  thy  providence 
and  Spirit  have  meted  out  to  us, — we  come  to 
120 


thee  with  our  common  prayer,  our  common  sup- 
plication, our  common  suit. 

Almighty  God,  we  bless  thee  that  every  day 
thou  openest  thy  hand  and  satisfiest  the  desires 
of  every  living  thing;  our  daily  bread  is  from 
thee;  thy  strong  protecting  care  preserves  us 
from  evil  and  from  harm;  thy  Spirit  inspires 
our  intelligence  and  confirms  our  will;  and  we 
look  to  thee  with  devout  and  filial  minds  for  all 
we  need. 

Holy  Father,  give  us  wisdom ;  rebuke  us  with 
wise  severity  and  with  tender  mercy ;  and  let  all 
thy  goodness  be  so  familiar  and  so  well  taught  to 
our  hearts,  that  we  shall  never  again  go  astray. 

We  ask  thy  blessing,  Holy  One,  upon  us,  each 
one  of  us,  in  our  daily  experience  of  life;  that 
thou  wilt  give  us  that  reasonable  worldly  pros- 
perity that  is  good  for  us.  Confirm  our  industry, 
and  make  that  industry  a  school  of  human  ex- 
cellence and  virtue  and  worth;  and  may  we,  by 
the  aid  of  thy  Spirit  and  inspired  by  that  Spirit, 
see  in  the  common  things  of  our  daily  life  some- 
thing of  a  moral  beauty ;  may  the  ever-returning 
round  of  workday  experience,  of  care  and  toil 
and  labor,  may  it  not  be  merely  a  dusty  path  be- 
neath a  burning  sun,  but  may  it  be  relieved  by 
glimpses  of  moral  beauty,  by  gentle  shadows 
that  send  their  shade  over  us  for  rest  beside 
pure  streams  that  refresh  us,  while  ever  before 

121 


us  are  celestial  heights  of  attainment,  of  knowl- 
edge, of  wisdom,  of  virtue,  and  of  the  power  of 
eternal  life. 

Almighty  God,  consecrate  to  us  our  personal 
ties,  our  relations  to  one  another,  our  pure  affec- 
tions, our  consecrated  love.  As  we  sit  at  the 
daily  board  and  dispense  the  bread  which  thy 
hand  hath  given  us,  may  we,  each  in  his  place, 
feel  a  kind  of  providence  to  those  that  are  near. 
May  the  climate  of  the  house  be  genial ;  may  its 
light  be  celestial,  its  love  pure,  and  may  it  be  to 
us,  to  some  extent,  a  symbol  of  the  kingdom  of 
God;  and  so  may  life  hold  on  its  course  guided 
by  thee, — setting  us  free  continually  from  our 
past  and  guiding  us  onward  to  a  better  and  bet- 
ter future.  May  we  have  great  hope  in  ourselves, 
great  hope  in  our  fellow  men,  and  trust  in  God. 
And  so  may  the  company  on  earth  press  forward 
to  the  company  in  Heaven.  AMEN. 

0  God,  hear  our  prayer  that  we  offer  now, — 
that  our  best  thoughts  and  purest  affections  may 
be  made  steadfast  and  strong,  and  that  the  foun- 
dations of  thy  eternal  kingdom  may  be  laid  in 
our  minds  and  hearts.  Inspire  us  by  thy  Spirit, 
encourage  us  by  thy  grace,  protect  us  with  thy 
care,  and  let  thy  kingdom  ever  be  in  us  a  glori- 
ous city,  a  wonderful  empire,  a  kingdom  of 
power,  of  peace,  of  eternal  life.  AMEN. 
122 


SEPTEMBER  29,  1889 

0  GOD,  thou  art  my  God ;  early  will  I  seek  thee. 
The  morning  is  fresh;  the  air  is  bright  and 
clear;  the  world  is  filled  with  thy  presence  and 
thy  glory;  and  we  come  humbly  to  our  place  of 
prayer  that,  in  the  midst  of  thy  glory  and  thy 
power,  we  may  bow  with  humble,  contrite  hearts 
before  thee  and  beseech  thee  with  all  the  power 
and  imploring  prayer  of  penitent  and  believing 
hearts.  We  come  from  afar;  we  come  as  doves 
to  the  window,  from  distant  places  of  thought,  of 
vocation,  of  daily  life;  from  the  streets  of  the 
city,  the  dwellings  of  men,  and  from  countries 
far  away.  Let  thy  blessing  in  heavenly  grace 
and  love  descend  upon  thy  people.  Teach  us 
that  we  are  all  one  kind,  of  one  household  and 
one  family;  and  that  thou,  our  Father  in 
heaven,  art  the  Father  of  all  the  families  of 
men. 

0  thou  who  touchest  the  lips  of  thy  prophets 
with  flames,  and  they  speak  thy  words  and  thy 
truth,  speak  now  unto  thy  people  and  call  them 
by  name, — by  thine  own  name  with  which  thou 
hast  named  them  from  everlasting  to  everlast- 
128 


ing, — and  may  we  rise  up  as  the  children  of  God, 
guided  by  thy  hand,  inspired  by  thy  love,  and 
led  forward  by  thy  holy  and  tender  providence. 

Almighty  One,  we  thank  thee  as  it  is  our  cus- 
tom to  thank  thee, — may  it  not  be  a  custom  mere- 
ly, may  it  not  be  a  vain  word,  but  may  it  become 
the  expression  of  a  devout  and  grateful  heart, — 
we  thank  thee  for  thy  protecting  care;  we  own 
with  gratitude  thy  never-failing  love,  and  we 
bless  thee  that  in  the  midst  of  mystery  and  of 
thy  unsearchable  providence  and  the  strange 
events  of  human  life  thou  hast  given  us  an  un- 
speakable gift;  that  in  all  the  tangle  and  per- 
plexity and  darkness  and  contradiction  of  mind 
in  our  earthly  lot,  thou  hast  given  us  the  un- 
speakable gift  of  thy  Spirit  to  help  us  to  trust 
thee  still,  to  believe  in  thee  always,  to  believe 
that  over  and  above,  and  deeper  down  and  high- 
er, than  all  that  we  can  see,  thou  art  working,  by 
a  providence  of  wisdom  and  holiness  and  good- 
ness, thou  art  working  out  the  good  of  every 
human  soul.  May  we  not  hinder  that  good  by 
bad  will,  by  impure  affections,  by  wayward  de- 
sires ;  but  may  we  be  with  thee,  and,  if  thou  wilt 
permit  us,  may  we  even  be  the  companions  of 
God, — his  imitators,  his  likeness;  and  may  his 
word  and  commandment  be  our  comfort,  our 
peace,  and  our  strength. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  upon  those 

124 


whose  hearts  are  not  yet  quite  formed  in  secur- 
ity and  strength  of  life ;  we  pray  that  innocence 
may  ever  be  guarded  and  protected;  that  inno- 
cence may  become  virtue,  that  virtue  may  be- 
come moral  power,  and  moral  power  may  become 
eternal  life,  and  those  who  live  a  mixed  life  of 
good  and  evil, — in  whom  there  is  much  evil  and 
some  good, — 0  turn  them  toward  thee,  and  let 
the  good  overcome  the  evil.  Let  thy  mercy  ever 
be  with  us;  let  thy  severity  deal  with  us  as  thy 
wisdom  sees  best,  and  let  us  never  flinch  or  fear 
from  the  wise  severity  of  a  just  and  loving  God. 
Holy  Father,  let  thy  tender  compassion  be 
with  all;  help  the  troubled  to  bear  their  trouble; 
those  who  are  walking  in  darkness  and  in  pain, 
may  they  be  led  by  a  mysterious  and  almighty 
hand,  and  may  they  rather  be  led  in  darkness 
than  to  walk  in  light  by  their  own  will;  and  so, 
in  all  the  conditions  and  fortunes  of  thy  chil- 
dren, in  their  outward  lot  and  in  their  inward 
life,  in  their  past  experience,  and  in  their  pres- 
ent feeling,  in  their  future  hopes  and  present 
desires,  may  they  dwell  in  thee, — thou  Guide  and 
Hope  of  all  thy  people.  AMEN. 

Almighty  One,  inspire  now  in  our  hearts  by 
thy  good  Spirit  every  pure  purpose,  every  good 
resolution,  every  right  affection.  If  we  are  inno- 
cent, confirm  that  innocence  by  thy  word  spoken 

125 


in  peace  and  power,  ' '  This  is  my  beloved  son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased";  if  our  lives  are  brok- 
en, if  we  are  fallen  from  supreme  heights  of 
moral  beauty  and  glory,  pity  us  in  our  broken 
condition,  and  let  penitence  and  tears  come  with 
blessing  and  gentle  forgiveness  and  holy  peace; 
and  may  we  think  of  the  things  that  belong  to 
us  as  the  children  of  God;  may  we  subdue  this 
world  and  its  possessions  to  a  noble  service ;  may 
we,  through  God,  be  victorious  over  all  evil ;  and 
when  we  move  on  beyond  the  horizons  of  this 
visible  world,  may  we  go  to  greater  companion- 
ships, greater  glory  and  splendor,  before  which 
the  eyes  of  angels  are  undimmed,  and  to  peace 
which  passeth  understanding.  AMEN. 


126 


OCTOBER  6,  1889  —  MOBNING 

WE  are  come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer  with 
our  ever-returning  wants,  with  our  common  sup- 
plications, our  common  weaknesses,  trials,  cares, 
and  sins.  We  cry  unto  thee,  0  God,  from  the 
depths  of  a  lowly  spirit ;  we  implore  thee  not  to 
despise  the  offerings  of  our  hearts,  and  to  listen 
to  the  prayer  of  thy  contrite  ones.  We  are  come 
from  thou  knowest  where, — from  distant  places 
of  the  earth,  from  more  distant  places  of  thought 
and  affection,  engagements  and  duties  of  the 
world  and  affairs  of  daily  life ;  and  we  have  all 
come  to  this  place  where  our  feet  meet  in  one 
common  way.  We  have  come  to  remind  our 
hearts  of  thee,  to  lift  them  up  toward  thee,  to 
repose  on  thine  almighty  arm,  to  gain  strength 
and  fortitude  to  do  and  bear  thy  perfect  will. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  those  great 
sentiments  in  our  minds  and  hearts  that  seem  to 
last  forever ;  and  though  we  recite  them  over  and 
over  again,  though  we  utter  them  in  prayer 
night  and  morning  and  noon  and  evening, 
though  we  come  again  and  again  to  our  place  of 
teaching  and  worship  and  bow  down  before  thee, 

127 


still  the  same  ancient  song  bears  up  our  hearts 
on  wings  of  power,  the  same  words  of  lowly 
penitence  ever  interpret  our  inmost  souls,  and 
the  words  and  thoughts  and  experiences  of  thy 
children  for  thousands  and  thousands  of  years 
are  still  fresh  as  the  morning  dew,  with  every 
generation  and  with  every  new  experience  and 
impulse  of  our  hearts. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  with  humble 
reverence;  we  adore  thee,  for  thy  great  provi- 
dence which  has  brought  us  into  so  glorious  a 
communion, — the  communion  of  human  souls, 
the  communion  of  human  experiences,  the  com- 
munion of  our  common  hearts  with  God  our 
Father, — and  now  we  pray  thee  to  temper  thy 
providences  to  our  hearts.  If  those  providences 
are  dark  and  mysterious,  may  we  reflect  and 
meditate  seriously  and  earnestly  how  little  we 
know,  and  may  we  find  comfort  in  feeling  that 
the  great  responsibility  is  with  God,  our  Maker, 
our  Inspirer,  and  that,  if  we  have  been  true  to 
that  light  which  he  has  given,  if  we  have  been 
true  to  that  light  "that  lighteth  every  man  that 
cometh  into  the  world/ '  we  can  be  free  from  all 
mean  anxieties,  from  all  dark  trouble,  from  all 
evil  forebodings,  and  can  rest  upon  thine  eternal 
arm.  If  we  look  back  upon  the  past,  or  if  we 
stand  up  in  the  present,  and  have  much  to  re- 
pent of,  may  we  meditate  on  the  healing  power 

128 


of  repentance,  and  upon  the  precious  promises 
of  God.  So  may  our  hearts  ever  be  refreshed  by 
divine  breezes,  may  our  fainting  spirits  be  sus- 
tained by  divine  inspiration;  and  believing  in 
ourselves  and  in  God,  led  forward  by  the  truth 
of  thy  Son,  and  sustained  by  the  grace  that  is  in 
him,  may  we  do  bravely,  may  we  think  honestly, 
may  we  act  with  sincerity ;  and  may  we  be  at  one 
with  ourselves  and  at  one  with  thee. 

Almighty  God,  hear  our  prayer  for  all  men; 
give  us  human  sympathy  in  the  human  world; 
take  us  out  of  the  little  horizons  of  all  our  nar- 
row thoughts,  and  expand  our  souls  by  divine 
wisdom  and  divine  truth.  AMEN. 

0  God,  hear  thou  our  prayer.  We  will  not 
pray  much ;  but  thou  knowest  all.  Fulfill  in  our 
hearts  now  our  best  desires,  our  purest  wishes, 
our  most  heavenly  affections.  Strengthen  reason, 
give  wings  to  imagination,  give  depths  to  feel- 
ing, give  insight  to  love,  and  let  thy  people  be 
blessed  with  something  of  angelic  light  and 
something  of  angelic  joy.  AMEN. 


129 


OCTOBEE  6,  1889  — EVENING 

THE  day  is  done;  the  evening  shadows  fall;  the 
night  stands  above  and  around  us  protected  by 
thy  care;  and  now  we  come  for  an  hour  to  our 
place  of  prayer,  to  lift  up  our  voice  in  joyful 
song,  to  lift  up  our  hearts  in  adoring  prayer,  to 
confess  thy  goodness,  and,  by  solemn  act  of  in- 
ward thought  and  feeling,  to  consecrate  our- 
selves afresh  to  thy  service,  thy  truth,  and  thy 
word. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  pleasant  day,  for  all  its 
happy  opportunities  and  privileges,  its  freedom 
from  ordinary  labor,  the  rest  from  toil,  the  op- 
portunity of  home,  of  the  companionship  of 
friends,  of  children,  of  father  and  mother, 
brother  and  sister.  We  thank  thee,  Almighty 
God,  for  thy  goodness  that  is  without  stint;  for 
those  gifts  that  thou  dost  continually  bestow 
upon  us,  whether  we  are  mindful  of  them  or  not ; 
so  freely  dost  thou  give  that  we  are  wont  even 
to  forget  thy  gifts.  Teach  us  to  remind  our 
hearts  of  our  dependence  and  to  learn  that  our 
dependence  on  thee  is  our  joy,  our  strength,  our 
great  privilege,  and  our  blessing.  Open  thou  to 
130 


us  the  fountains  of  eternal  life,  the  glory  that 
may  shine  upon  the  mind  and  the  spirit,  the  love- 
liness that  may  be  seen  in  pure  affections,  in 
righteous  will,  and  in  the  insights  and  powers 
and  glories  of  a  true  and  heavenly  love. 

Almighty  One,  thou  Protector  of  all,  let  thy 
strong  and  loving  care  be  over  all.  We  would 
think  of  thy  common  human  family,  the  world 
of  mankind, — thou  knowest  what  thou  madest; 
thou  knowest  what  thy  will  is ;  lead  on  thy  people 
by  mighty  providences,  by  righteous  retribution, 
by  holy  teaching, — lead  them  on  by  the  pillar  of 
cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night,  to  fulfill  the 
great  destiny  whicn  thou  hast  appointed  them, 
and  may  our  will  never  defeat  thy  holy  purpose. 

Forgive  our  sins ;  let  thy  tender  care  be  upon 
all  those  who  are  afflicted,  who  are  bowed  down 
with  trouble,  distressed  in  mind  and  heart.  Be 
with  those  who  languish  on  beds  of  sickness,  and 
who  are  thinking  yet  ere  long  they  shall  de- 
part— the  lone  soul  to  the  lone  God.  And  so  let 
thy  people  be  comforted  in  thee,  the  Almighty 
One.  Thy  perfect  goodness,  thy  wisdom,  thy 
power,  thy  love, — let  them  be  for  all  thy  people. 
AMEN. 


131 


OCTOBER  13,   1889  —  MORNING 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  we,  thy  people,  thine 
earthly  children,  come  to  thee  again  in  our  place 
of  prayer;  we  come  with  the  ever-returning 
want,  with  the  ever-same  confession,  with  the 
oft-repeated  supplication ;  we  come  to  thee  with 
gladness,  with  holy  fear,  with  awe  and  filial 
love;  let  our  minds  be  reverently  impressed  by 
thy  greatness,  thy  holiness,  thy  power,  and  thy 
goodness,  and  may  we  be  drawn  to  thee  by  a 
sense  of  thine  unspeakable  glory  and  beauty  and 
goodness;  and  as  we  look  up  to  thee  for  every 
good  thing,  and  confess  that  we  receive  our  daily 
bread  from  thy  liberal  hand,  may  we  feel  that 
the  inspirations  of  thy  Spirit  kindle  understand- 
ing, reason,  faith,  affection,  and  imagination; 
may  we  feel  that  thy  manifestation  in  us  is  the 
bond  that  binds  us  to  thee,  and  by  which  we  are 
the  "sons  of  God." 

"We  give  thee  common  thanks,  0  God ;  we  give 
thee  gratitude  for  all  the  blessings  of  our  lot, 
and  we  pray  that  when  trial  or  darkness  or  dis- 
appointment comes  to  us,  when  perplexity  and 
fear  and  almost  death  are  near,  we  pray  that 

132 


thou  wilt  help  us,  by  filial  trust,  by  gentle  confi- 
dence, by  tender  and  pure  hearts,  to  lay  our  bur- 
den upon  thy  arm,  to  be  led  by  thy  strong  and 
merciful  hand,  and  to  feel  that  no  harm  can  be- 
fall us  if  thou  art  nigh. 

We  adore  thy  providence,  Almighty  One;  we 
praise  thy  works.  As  we  look  abroad  over  the 
earth  and  the  sea  and  into  the  sky,  thy  glories 
are  manifest  to  our  minds,  thy  powers  are  set 
forth  in  every  land  where  thy  word  is  spoken, 
and  we  bow  with  reverence  before  thee. 

Almighty  One,  in  the  silent  and  still  temple  of 
our  hearts  let  there  be  a  sincere  worship,  a 
humble  prayer,  a  deep  and  tender  and  broken- 
hearted repentance.  Forgive  our  sins;  remove 
them  from  us  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west ; 
remember  them  no  more;  and  if  we  return  to 
thee  after  having  forgotten  thee,  after  having 
rebelled  against  thee  and  shut  our  ears  against 
thy  paternal  voice, — if  we  return  to  thee,  meet 
us,  0  Father  in  heaven,  meet  us  while  yet  we 
are  afar  off ;  restore  us  to  our  home  in  thee ;  and 
say  not  a  word  of  reproach  to  us  for  all  our 
past ;  and  so  may  we  go  on  and  on  in  a  glorious 
way  of  moral  and  spiritual  light,  finding  in  our 
daily  experience  a  training  and  discipline  fitting 
us  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  as  years 
increase,  may  we,  from  new  heights  of  attain- 
ment and  of  experience,  be  able  to  look  abroad 

133 


and  say  in  our  deepest  hearts,  "Behold  the  good- 
ness and  mercy  of  God." 

Protect  us  all  by  thy  power;  inspire  by  thy 
Spirit ;  and  let  thy  common  blessings  and  provi- 
dences be  for  and  over  all  the  children  of  men. 
Hear  our  prayer,  inspire  our  hearts,  kindle  our 
love,  and  let  thy  benediction  be  upon  us  ever- 
more. AMEN. 

0  God,  most  merciful  and  gracious,  hear  now 
the  prayer  of  thy  children.  Transform  us  into 
thine  own  image — thy  divine  likeness,  and  give 
us  courage  and  strength  and  fortitude  to  put  the 
best  thoughts  and  the  things  that  we  do  most 
sincerely  believe  into  daily  practice;  and  teach 
us  to  believe  and  feel  that  a  pure  thought,  a 
good  conscience,  an  upright  mind  outweighs  a 
world  of  luxury  and  ease.  AMEN. 


134 


OCTOBEE  13,   1889  — EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  and  most  merciful  God,  thou  whose 
hand  supports  the  steady  globe  of  the  earth  and 
brings  the  fair  procession  of  day  and  night,  we 
ask  thy  blessing  now  that  our  minds  may  be 
attuned  by  the  spirit  of  truth,  by  reverence, 
love,  honor,  uprightness,  righteousness,  and 
goodness.  We  confess  thy  providential  Spirit  in 
thy  inspiring  word  that  thou  hast  spoken  all 
along  the  line  of  human  generations,  and  art 
ever  speaking  to  thy  beloved  human  race.  En- 
large our  thoughts  and  sympathies  to  think  of  a 
human  world,  to  think  of  that  which  we  call 
"  humanity, " — the  life  of  God  on  earth,  the 
manifestation  of  thy  Spirit  in  man, — with  love 
and  honor  and  pity ;  to  think  with  joy  and  grati- 
tude of  that  crowning,  mysterious  life — the  life 
of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  leader  of  our  salvation, 
captain  of  the  victorious  hosts  that  shall  conquer 
for  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Let  thy  blessing  now  be  upon  all  those  whom 
we  think  of  in  our  hearts,  whom  in  our  medita- 
tive moods  we  would  name  before  thee, — those 
who  are  not  with  us,  who  may  be  far  away  across 

135 


lands  and  seas,  who  are  pursuing  their  own  voca- 
tions in  the  name  of  God  and  by  the  help  of  his 
Spirit, — wherever  they  may  be  encourage  and 
inspire  them,  and  let  them  cheerfully  and  faith- 
fully follow  the  appointments  of  thy  providence. 
And  let  thy  blessing  be  with  those  who  are  in 
places  of  special  power  and  authority,  of  wis- 
dom, teaching,  or  divine  appointment;  let  thy 
blessing  be  upon  all  institutions  of  learning,  law, 
religion, — may  they  have  in  them  all  grace  and 
favor  and  wisdom,  and  may  they  instruct  in  the 
ways  of  God,  in  all  truth  and  power  and  beauty. 
Let  thy  blessing,  we  pray  thee,  be  upon  those 
who  are  unknown  to  the  great  world,  but  not  for- 
gotten by  thee,  in  whose  hearts  there  is  going  on 
the  work  of  thy  eternal  kingdom,  in  whose  minds 
and  earthly  experience  there  is  being  wrought 
out  a  great  and  mighty  problem  of  which  the 
world  knows  little,  and  yet  for  which  the  world 
was  made;  and  let  us  all,  each  one  in  his  place 
and  vocation,  feel  that  we  have  a  divine  appoint- 
ment, a  vocation  of  God,  a  calling  from  on  high. 
Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  the  city  and  all  the 
people  thereof;  upon  the  high,  the  low,  the  rich, 
the  poor,  and  those  who  know  not  their  right 
hand  from  their  left.  Lead,  guide,  protect,  and 
bless;  and  let  thy  people  be  led  forward  to  bet- 
ter things  than  they  know, — taught  by  thy 
Spirit,  guided  by  thy  providence,  and  led  for- 

136 


ward  to  greater  and  greater  experience  which 
shall  be  fulfilled  at  last  in  thine  own  good  time, 
in  some  kingdom  of  God  here  or  there. 

Almighty  One,  forgive  our  sins;  hear  our 
prayers,  for  thy  name  and  mercy's  sake  forever 
and  ever.  AMEN. 


137 


OCTOBER  20,  1889 

GOD,  our  Father,  Holy  One,  we  come  to  thee; 
thou  art  onr  Refuge,  our  Rock,  our  Defense.  We 
thank  thee  for  thy  protecting  care,  for  the 
bounty  of  thy  providence,  the  goodness  of  thy 
paternal  love,  the  wise  chastisements  of  thy 
righteousness  and  thy  truth.  We  thank  thee, — 
and  we  confess  in  all  this  changing  scene  of  the 
outward  world,  we  confess  thy  power,  thy  pres- 
ence, thy  interest,  and  thy  love  in  the  human 
world.  The  earth  turns,  suns  rise  and  set,  rains 
fall,  and  clouds  are  spread  a.bove  us;  the  ocean 
rolls  in  thine  almighty  hand ;  the  mountains  are 
firm  in  the  strength  which  thou  hast  established ; 
and  all  the  scenes  of  earth,  and  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  human  existence  are  ordered  and  di- 
rected and  controlled  by  thy  omnipotent  hand. 
Let  reverence  and  holy  fear  be  in  our  minds; 
and  through  rifts  of  earthly  clouds  may  thy 
people  have  gleams  of  eternal  beauty,  of  glories 
and  grandeurs,  of  ineffable  things,  of  God  and 
his  Spirit. 

Almighty  One,  we  acknowledge  with  humble 
hearts  our  weaknesses  and  our  sins;   and  we 

138 


pray  for  that  forgiveness  when  we  do  sincerely 
forsake  our  sins, — we  pray  for  that  forgiveness 
which  removes  them  from  us  as  far  as  the  east 
is  from  the  west ;  and  may  we  have  that  divine, 
that  beatific  sight  of  thy  goodness,  thy  perfec- 
tion, and  thy  beauty,  that  shall  lead  us  to  say, 
"Let  thy  reproofs  come  upon  us,  let  thy  hand 
rest  heavily  upon  us,  if  we  may  but  be  purified 
from  our  earthly  dross  and  made  fit  for  thy  com- 
panionship, thy  friendship,  and  thy  love." 

Almighty  God,  we  thank  thee  for  the  pleasant 
things  of  our  earthly  lot,  for  its  kindly  charities, 
its  pities,  its  loves,  its  victories  of  pain  and  glad- 
ness ;  we  thank  thee  for  the  companionship  and 
dependence  of  those  who  are  dear  to  us,  for  those 
to  whom  we  owe  unspeakable  debts  of  grati- 
tude,— eyes  that  are  to  us  the  gate  of  heaven, 
and  hearts  that  we  never  for  a  moment  dis- 
trusted,— these  things,  we  would  think  with 
divine  imagination  and  pure  feeling,  are  earthly 
symbols  of  what  we  may  find  in  thee.  And  so  as 
years  increase,  may  feeling  grow  deeper,  may 
thought  ascend  higher,  may  imagination  rise  on 
stronger  wings  and  with  greater  power,  and  may 
we  have  no  reason  to  ask  "Why?"  or  "Where- 
fore?" inasmuch  as  the  kingdom  of  God  shall 
be  within  us, — God  is,  and  we  are, — and  we  are 
at  peace. 

Let  thy  blessing,  Almighty  One,  be  abroad 

139 


over  all  the  human  world,  upon  our  common 
country  and  beloved  land,  upon  the  common- 
wealth of  our  state,  upon  the  city  and  the 
dwellers  therein.  Cherish,  by  thy  Holy  Spirit, 
all  goodness  in  the  hearts  of  thy  children ;  chas- 
tise, rebuke,  bless,  console,  and  comfort  them, 
according  to  their  wants;  and  let  no  heart  chal- 
lenge thy  wisdom  or  thy  grace,  or  ask  thee 
"Why?"  or  "Wherefore?"  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  let  thy  Spirit  in 
the  depths  of  our  hearts  convince  us  of  truth,  of 
our  own  sins,  our  need  of  thy  purifying  fires ; 
and  may  we  look  up  to  thee  with  imploring 
prayer,  saying,  "Let  my  soul  live,  and  it  shall 
praise  thee;  and  let  thy  judgments  help  me." 
And  so  may  new  heavenly  light  be  shed  abroad 
on  all  our  earthly  course ;  may  new  courage  come 
into  our  hearts,  new  fortitude  into  our  breasts, 
and  a  wonderful  vision  of  moral  beauty  into  our 
minds.  AMEN. 


140 


OCTOBEE  27,  1889 

0  GOD,  our  Father,  we  thank  thee  for  thy  pro- 
tecting care,  that  again  we  are  permitted  to  come 
to  our  place  of  devout  prayer  and  contempla- 
tion, to  lift  up  our  hearts  and  voice  to  thee,  to 
confess  our  sins,  to  bow  down  humbly  before 
thee,  and  to  rise  up  in  joy  and  gladness.  We 
praise  thee;  we  give  thee  glory  and  honor  and 
power  and  majesty, — thou  Almighty  One,  terri- 
ble in  glory,  beautiful  in  praises,  and,  in  thine 
everlasting  love,  the  life  and  light  and  hope  and 
peace  of  all  thy  children.  We  thank  thee  for  the 
common  things  of  our  earthly  lot ;  and  we  thank 
thee  more  for  the  unspeakable  gift  of  thy  Spirit 
that  thou  hast  given  us,  by  which,  in  the  midst 
of  many  perplexities  and  trials  and  griefs  and 
pains,  amid  all  the  disappointments  and  crosses 
and  uncertainties  of  our  earthly  lot,  we  have  a 
sustaining  power,  a  mysterious  grace,  a  heaven- 
ly love ;  a  power  of  trusting  in  thee,  of  hoping  in 
thee,  and  believing  that  somehow,  in  some  way, 
and  at  some  time  greater  good  shall  come  out  of 
our  evil,  and  that  thy  wisdom  and  thy  power  are 
ever  for  us,  and  that  the  penitent,  the  sorrowful, 

141 


and  the  broken-hearted  thou  wilt  lift  up  to  joy 
and  peace. 

Hear  us  now,  0  God,  in  our  lowly  prayer,  our 
humble  penitence,  our  longing  cry.  Forgive 
our  sins;  forgive  our  indifference;  pardon  our 
weaknesses;  lift  us  up  and  strengthen  us,  and 
make  us  stand  by  the  might  of  thy  Spirit. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  that  thou  hast 
lifted  up  upon  us  the  light  of  thy  countenance, 
and  that,  in  the  word  and  face  of  thy  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  thou  hast  revealed  thyself  and  art  reveal- 
ing thyself  to  us  continually.  We  bless  thee  for 
all  the  grace  and  charity  and  benignity  of  human 
life, — for  the  laugh  and  rollick  of  childhood, 
for  the  sweetness  and  promise  of  youth,  for  the 
strength  of  manhood,  and  for  the  gentle  wisdom 
and  grace  of  age ;  and  we  bless  thee  that,  through 
many  vicissitudes  of  trial,  of  uncertainty, 
through  much  teaching  and  deep  experience  of 
the  world,  there  are  rifts  of  light  through  the 
clouds,  there  are  gleams  of  peace  to  troubled 
hearts,  and  that  there  are  solitary  moments 
of  gladness  and  joy  and  hope.  And  we 
thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  those  com- 
mon outward  gifts  and  pleasures  and  satis- 
factions which  belong  to  us  in  this  life, 
which  are  blessings  to  our  minds  and  hearts  if 
rightly  used  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  which 
at  length  we  dismiss  as  a  wise  man  dismisses  a 

142 


faithful  servant  whose  services  he  no  longer 
needs.  We  thank  thee  for  our  daily  safety  and 
ability  to  go  about  our  affairs,  for  the  satisfac- 
tion we  have  in  our  affairs,  for  the  reasonable 
gratification  we  have  in  overcoming  difficulties, 
making  a  way  plain,  in  triumphing  over  this  out- 
ward world  by  skill,  by  wisdom,  by  learning,  by 
industry;  and  may  we  in  all  this  school  of  life 
and  teaching, — may  we  learn  and  know  some- 
thing better  than  the  things  we  handle,  and  may 
we  learn  that  we  ourselves  are  no  parts  of  the 
things;  and  may  we  remember  that,  through 
faithfulness  and  honesty  and  uprightness  and  a 
pure  heart  and  upright  will,  we  may  be  in  this 
humble,  dusty  way  of  earth  entering  continually 
the  kingdom  of  God;  and  so  may  success  or 
disappointment,  trial  or  joy,  tears  or  gladness 
bring  to  our  hearts  the  rich  treasures  of  wisdom, 
the  rich  strength  of  peace. 

Almighty  God,  thou  knowest  us  altogether; 
we  need  not  pray  much  to  explain  ourselves  to 
thine  eternal  and  all-piercing  Spirit.  We  are 
men  of  the  world;  we  have  the  passions  of  the 
world ;  but  we  have  a  light  within,  a  light  of  thy 
Spirit,  a  divine  guidance;  and  we  beseech  thee 
to  help  us  to  walk  by  that  guidance,  and  give  us 
the  inspiration  of  that  Spirit ;  and  may  we  come 
into  communion  with  thy  truth  through  the  gos- 
pel of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ.  May  we  see  in  him 

143 


the  wisdom  of  God,  the  power  of  God;  and  in 
walking  in  his  footsteps,  in  looking  to  his  divine 
example,  in  ascending  into  the  celestial  moun- 
tains of  his  trials  and  temptation,  may  we  bear 
testimony  in  our  hearts  that  we  too  are  taught, 
chastised,  reproved,  and  beckoned  upward. 

Almighty  God,  hear  our  prayer;  forgive  our 
sins;  lead  us  always  in  a  plain  path  of  duty; 
help  us  to  bear  our  afflictions  well,  and  to  bear 
our  prosperity  and  our  successes  with  modest 
and  humble  minds ;  and  whatever  comes,  may  we 
not  be  too  much  surprised  or  changed  in  our 
hearts;  and  when  at  last  thou  callest,  may  we 
each  one  be  ready  and  answer,  "Here  am  I." 
AMEN. 

O  Holy  Father,  inspire  our  hearts  now  by  thy 
Spirit  to  think  and  feel  the  things  that  we  do 
most  truly  believe ;  and  give  depth  and  power  to 
the  stream  of  experience,  that  wisdom  and  good- 
ness, and  truth  and  moral  beauty,  may  be  a  kind 
of  common  sense  to  our  hearts,  to  our  minds  and 
Our  souls.  Let  thy  teaching  be  adapted  to  our 
weakness,  to  our  ignorance,  and  to  our  want.  Be 
gentle  with  us  in  our  impatience,  in  our  short- 
sightedness, and  teach  us  how  little  we  know, 
and  yet  kindle  in  our  hearts  an  inextinguishable 
hope,  a  divine  trust,  a  mighty  conquest  of  faith. 
AMEN. 

144 


NOVEMBEE  3,  1889  -  MOENING 

WE  are  come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer;  0 
God,  Almighty  Maker,  Everlasting  Friend,  our 
Father  in  heaven,  by  thy  gracious  and  inspiring 
Spirit,  come  to  thy  people  now.  Come,  bring- 
ing gentle  thoughts  and  pure  feelings  and  sweet 
humility  and  penitence  to  their  hearts;  and  as 
we  rise  up  and  bow  down  before  thee,  and  lift  up 
our  prayer  and  song,  let  our  hearts  be  instructed 
by  thy  presence,  inspired  by  thy  gracious  Spirit ; 
and  may  thy  providence,  thy  wisdom,  thy  good- 
ness, and  thy  power  all  seem  to  our  believing 
minds  to  be  on  behalf  of  us,  thy  children. 

We  come  from  many  distances  of  thought  and 
feeling,  and  action  and  experience.  Thou  know- 
est  every  heart,  every  mind,  every  will.  We 
come  from  far  and  nigh;  from  cares,  pursuits, 
troubles,  trials,  joys,  satisfactions,  and  peace. 
Thou  givest  to  us  all  our  share  of  pain  or  joy,  of 
gladness  or  tears;  and  may  we  have  no  selfish- 
ness about  it;  may  we  not  be  too  much  engaged 
with  wonder  and  surprise  at  thy  providence, 
and  at  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life;  but  may 
we  flee  from  all  that  to  the  heights  of  inaccessi- 

145 


ble  peace,  where  we  trust  and  believe  and  hope 
in  thee  fully,  and  feel  that  we  are  safest  when 
we  are  altogether  in  thy  hand. 

We  bless  thee,  Almighty  God,  and  we  confess 
thy  ever-present  and  eternal  Spirit  working  for 
us,  that,  in  the  vicissitudes  of  our  earthly  life, 
the  things  which  we  have  most  dreaded  have 
sometimes  turned  out  to  be  best ;  and  that  those 
things  which  we  have  thought  the  best  when 
they  were  nigh,  when  looked  back  upon  in  the 
genial  light  of  distance  and  the  temper  of  expe- 
rience, we  see  that  they  were  not  so  good  as  we 
thought  them.  May  we  learn,  Almighty  One, 
may  we  learn  of  thee  that  there  are  treasures  of 
wisdom  yet  to  be  unfolded  to  us  far  greater  than 
we  have  yet  known  on  earth ;  and  as  we  think  of 
that  innumerable  company  who  have  moved  on 
beyond  these  earthly  horizons,  may  we  think  of 
them  as  exalted, — exalted  above  the  earth,  with 
purer  insights,  purer  affections,  stronger  wills, 
and,  as  they  stand  with  undazzled  eyes  in  thy 
presence,  they  know  thee  better,  they  love  thee 
more,  and  they  serve  thee  with  happier  will.  To 
that  innumerable  company  we  would  be  joined 
in  holy  sympathies,  in  devout  gratitude,  in  holy 
recollections,  and  in  immortal  hopes;  and  may 
we  learn,  as  life  bears  us  on  upon  its  mighty 
stream,  may  we  learn  to  think  more  and  more 
that  our  earthly  lot  is  a  part  of  our  eternal  be- 

146 


ing;  that  now  is  our  immortality,  that  now  is 
our  eternal  life ;  and  that,  if  we  are  living  a  life 
in  God,  obedient  to  his  will,  in  pure  affection 
toward  one  another,  when  we  go  hence,  we  have 
but  to  live  on  and  on  in  the  same  ever-ascending 
course ;  we  will  not  change  our  love ;  we  will  not 
abolish  our  consecrated  will;  but  inspired  anew 
and  infused  by  thy  life,  rise  on  wings  of  power 
to  thy  presence,  thy  glory,  and  thy  grace. 

Almighty  One,  hear  our  prayer;  forgive  our 
sins;  pity  our  weaknesses;  be  compassionate 
with  our  ignorance  and  our  bad  temper;  and  in 
all  things  chasten  us  by  thy  word  and  command- 
ment; and  may  we  be  so  childlike  and  faithful 
and  sinless,  as  to  feel  that  thy  chastisements  are 
sweet. 

Almighty  God,  now  let  thy  blessing  be  abroad 
upon  all  the  earth,  as  wide  as  the  beams  of  the 
sun;  and,  as  the  waters  fill  the  sea,  so  let  thy 
righteousness  come  down  upon  the  nations  and 
upon  the  world.  Go  forth  by  thy  Spirit,  en- 
churching  thyself  in  this  human  world,  leading 
it  by  thy  providence,  inspiring  it  by  thy  Spirit, 
and  lifting  up  thy  people  forever  and  forever. 
AMEN. 

0  God,  our  Father,  around  thy  throne  the  in- 
numerable hosts  do  cry  continually, ' '  Holy,  holy, 
holy,  Lord."    Let  our  prayers  join  the  heavenly 
147 


company;  let  our  praise  echo  in  the  heavenly 
places ;  and  here,  on  earth  beneath,  may  we  feel 
that  Heaven  is  begun,  that  we  belong  to  the 
great  communion  of  saints,  of  whom  Jesus 
Christ  is  first,  and  the  little  child  that  last  fled 
is  last.  And  so  may  our  great  communion  be 
with  thee  and  thy  beloved  forever  and  forever. 
AMEN. 


148 


NOVEMBEB  3,  1889  -  EVENING 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  as  the  curtains  of 
night  fall  around  the  dwellings  of  men,  we  come 
again  to  spend  an  hour  in  this  place  of  prayer 
and  teaching,  and  we  implore  thy  gracious  pres- 
ence, thy  enlightening  Spirit,  thy  forgiving  love, 
thy  protecting  care.  Over  all  the  earth  stillness 
reigns.  The  hosts  of  night  are  marshaled  upon 
the  heavenly  plain ;  the  sea  rolls  in  the  hollow  of 
thine  hand;  the  mountains  stand  fast  by  thy 
power ;  man  rests  from  his  labors,  and  his  heart 
is  refreshed  by  thoughts  of  God  too  great  to  be 
numbered,  even  beyond  the  number  of  the  sands 
of  the  sea. 

We  implore  thy  blessing,  Holy  Father ;  we  im- 
plore it  upon  ourselves,  upon  our  homes,  our 
friends,  those  whom  we  love,  and  we  implore  it 
for  thy  common  human  family,  for  every  land 
and  race  on  earth.  Let  thy  truth  be  glorified, — 
the  truth  of  thy  works,  the  truth  of  thy  ways, 
the  truth  of  thy  word,  the  truth  as  it  is  in  thine 
eternal  righteousness,  in  thine  almighty  power, 
in  thy  perfect  goodness  and  love.  And  teach  us, 
men  of  the  world  with  common  cares  and  com- 

149 


mon  duties,  as  we  enter  into  the  common  expe- 
riences of  thy  human  race,  may  we  feel  that  we 
belong  indeed  to  a  great  cause, — that  we  are 
allied  to  an  almighty  purpose;  and,  according 
to  our  best  and  humblest  thought,  according  to 
our  purest  vision  and  our  sincerest  reason,  may 
we  join  ourselves  to  that  cause,  and  be  partakers 
of  the  eternal  will. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  us  now,  upon  the 
homes  which  we  have  left  to  come  here,  upon 
those  who  are  separated  from  us  by  distances  of 
time  or  space,  across  sea  or  land;  and  may  we 
have  confidence  and  simple  faith  that  those  who 
look  up  to  thee  and  trust  to  thee,  wherever 
they  are  upon  the  earth,  cannot  be  far  apart. 
AMEN. 


150 


NOVEMBEE  10,  1889  —  MOENING 

GOD,  our  Almighty  and  Everlasting  Friend,  we, 
thy  people,  are  come  again  to  our  place  of 
prayer.  The  day  is  bright ;  the  sun  shines  clear, 
and  the  earth  is  blessed  beneath  its  genial 
beams ;  and  the  heart  of  man,  tried  and  afflicted, 
or  rejoicing  and  glad,  lifts  up  its  voice  and 
prayer  to  thee. 

Almighty  One,  glorious  in  praises,  great  in 
power,  above  all  in  beauty,  stronger  than 
strength, — we  implore  thee ;  we  rise  up  and  bow 
down  before  thee;  we  bring  thee  gifts  of  a  con- 
trite heart,  of  a  pure  spirit,  of  devout  faith  and 
filial  love. 

We  thank  thee,  thou  giver  of  all  our  good,  for 
the  ever-common  gifts  of  thy  providence,  for 
thy  steady  power,  thy  patient  love,  thine  ever- 
lasting and  long-suffering  goodness  and  truth. 
We  thank  thee  for  the  common  blessings  of  our 
lot, — so  common, — as  day  and  night,  morning 
and  noou,  daily  bread  and  divine  gifts  of  love, 
holy  charities  of  our  daily  life,  and  many  bless- 
ings descending  from  the  past  and  hopes  that 
dawn  in  the  future. 

151 


We  sometimes  feel  afflicted ;  we  are  sometimes 
much  perplexed;  sometimes  we  are  broken- 
hearted ;  but  we  have  ever  had  a  mysterious  gift 
in  our  hearts, — the  gift  of  trusting  in  thee,  of 
hoping  in  thee,  and  of  believing  that  somehow, 
in  some  way,  at  some  time,  eternal  good  will 
come  of  all  our  apparent  evil,  of  all  our  weak- 
ness, our  shortcomings,  our  frailty,  or  our  sins. 
And  we  pray  thee,  Almighty  God,  that  as  we 
look  up  to  thee  with  such  trust  and  implore  thy 
guidance  with  believing  hearts,  thou  wilt  temper 
our  minds  to  accept  the  events  of  life  and  provi- 
dence as  they  come;  to  accept  them  not  only  as 
inevitable,  or  as  cruel  fate,  but  as  the  wise  cor- 
rections of  one  who  sees  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning, who  knows  what  is  best,  and  who  will  do 
what  is  best  for  every  soul  of  man. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  One,  that  when  this 
earthly  life  and  lot  are  over,  we  may  trust 
to  the  same  Almighty  Providence;  that  we  may 
go  forth  to  new  spheres  of  being,  to  a  new  thea- 
ter of  action  and  life  and  thought,  where  our 
faith  shall  be  clearer,  thy  presence  shall  be  more 
manifest,  and  thy  love  shall  warm  and  inspire 
our  hearts  more  fully.  And  we  thank  thee  that 
we  can  and  may  trust  those  who  have  gone  be- 
fore us  to  that  field  and  sphere  and  theater  of 
spiritual  life;  that  we  may  trust  them  to  him 
who  saith,  "All  souls  are  mine."  Thou  hast 


made  them;  thou  hast  inspired  them;  thou  hast 
appointed  unto  them  their  discipline,  their  trials, 
their  struggles,  their  pain,  their  grief  or  their 
loss,  their  joy  or  their  gratitude;  and  we  may 
commit  them  to  thee.  And  we  bless  thee  for  all 
the  flood  of  infinite  goodness  and  wisdom  and 
grace  that  flows  down  to  us  from  on  high — from 
the  higher  places  of  spiritual  life,  where  dwell 
those  whom  we  remember,  an  innumerable  com- 
pany, into  whose  lives  and  inheritance  we  have 
entered,  and  in  whose  hope  we  live  and  still 
have  our  being. 

Almighty  One,  forgive  our  sins;  let  thy  bless- 
ing be  abroad  upon  all  the  children  of  men ;  bless 
and  inspire  the  people  of  our  land ;  guide  and  in- 
struct our  government  and  administrators  of 
law,  manners,  religion,  and  teaching;  and  let 
them  all  look  forth  on  the  fair  procession  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  man.  Let  thy  benediction  be 
upon  all  the  suffering  ones,  the  poor,  the  op- 
pressed, the  obscure,  and  the  unknown ;  and  may 
our  human  sympathies  be  so  increased  that  all 
our  distinctions  and  all  our  pride  and  coldness 
shall  be  lost  forever  in  the  greater  thought  that 
we  are  simply  human,  and  belong  to  the  common 
family  of  God  on  earth.  AMEN. 

Father  in  heaven,  hear  our  prayer,  uttered 
or  unexpressed,  and  by  thy  Spirit  kindle  the 

153 


deepest  and  loveliest  things  and  thoughts  in  our 
hearts.  Increase  that  light  in  us  that  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world;  enlarge 
our  sympathies  to  the  breadth  of  true  human 
feeling  and  divine  grace ;  and  may  it  be  enough 
for  us  that,  living  faithfully  and  honestly  and 
devoutly  here  with  one  another,  we  may  com- 
mend ourselves  to  God — the  faithful  God — for- 
ever and  ever.  AMEN. 


154 


NOVEMBER  10,   1889  -  EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  our  Father  in  Heaven,  let  thy 
blessing  and  thy  Spirit  be  upon  us  now,  as  we 
are  come  in  the  evening  hour  to  our  place  of 
prayer,  of  teaching,  and  of  song.  Let  thy  bene- 
diction be  upon  the  homes  which  we  have  left, 
the  friends  that  are  there;  let  thy  blessing,  too, 
go  abroad  o'er  the  whole  world,  genial  as  the 
beams  of  the  sun,  protecting,  silent,  and  still  as 
the  shadows  of  the  night. 

We  thank  thee  for  thy  ever-constant  and 
never-failing  goodness,  for  thy  strong  and  steady 
hand,  leading  us  forward  in  places  which  we 
know  not  and  where  we  should  lose  ourselves; 
for  the  enlightenment  of  thy  Spirit,  and  the 
abundant  gifts  of  thy  grace,  enlightening  our 
minds,  persuading  our  hearts,  soothing  our  pain, 
and  turning  all  things  for  our  good.  And  let 
thy  benediction,  we  pray  thee,  be  everywhere, 
wherever  there  is  a  human  heart,  a  human  life 
to  be  taught  and  led  and  instructed  by  thee.  In- 
crease in  us,  we  pray  thee,  that  genial  and  gener- 
ous feeling  which  is  of  the  power  of  thy  Spirit 
and  thy  grace — to  be  in  sympathy  with  thy 

155 


truth,  in  sympathy  with  human  life  and  with 
human  hearts. 

We  ask  thy  blessing,  Almighty  God,  and  we 
commend  to  thy  power  and  providence,  all  those 
influences,  those  institutions,  those  teachings, 
those  words  of  truth  and  right,  which  are  the 
forerunners  of  thy  kingdom  on  earth;  upon 
every  institution  of  learning,  of  law,  of  religion, 
of  good  government,  and  all  that  pertains  to 
man's  spiritual  and  moral  being,  to  his  welfare 
on  earth,  and  to  his  final  destiny. 

Almighty  God,  let  thy  blessing  be  upon  the 
people  of  the  city,  upon  all  classes  and  fortunes 
and  conditions,  upon  all  little  children,  young 
persons,  those  of  mature  years,  the  venerable 
and  experienced  and  wise;  over  all  classes  and 
fortunes  and  conditions  let  the  same  good  provi- 
dence preside,  let  the  same  paternal  love  and 
patience  and  wisdom  reign,  and  let  all  be  blessed 
in  thee,  the  common  Father  and  God  of  all. 
AMEN. 


156 


NOVEMBER  17,  1889  -  MOENING 

0  GOD,  our  Father,  Infinite  and  Holy  One,  Maker 
of  all  things,  Sustainer  of  all  things,  Inspirer  of 
men,  our  Father  in  heaven,  our  Almighty 
Friend, — we  are  come  again  to  our  place  of 
prayer  according  to  our  consecrated  custom, 
according  to  the  way  and  habit  of  our  heart,  ac- 
cording to  our  consecrated  will  and  pure  feeling. 
We  are  come  to  offer  our  prayer,  to  lift  up  our 
song,  to  listen  to  thy  word,  and  to  rise  on  wings 
of  power  to  thy  presence.  Come  now  to  thine 
own;  come  to  the  hearts  that  know  thee,  and  to 
the  hearts  that  wait  for  thee ;  come  to  our  weak- 
ness and  our  want,  our  frailty  and  our  sin ;  and 
lift  up  thy  people  forever  and  forever. 

We  own  thy  blessing  and  thy  goodness,  thy 
providence  that  is  plain  and  thy  providence  that 
is  mysterious;  we  would  accept  them  both  with 
filial  minds,  with  intelligent  hearts,  with  humble 
and  lowly  feeling.  For  the  common  blessings  of 
life  we  thank  thee.  May  no  habit  or  custom  ever 
dull  their  beauty;  but  with  ever-fresh  inspira- 
tions and  moments  of  divine  illumining,  may  we 
see  the  beauty  of  the  grass  beneath  our  feet,  and 

157 


may  the  very  walks  in  which  we  tread  be  as  sap- 
phire and  rubies  and  gold  to  our  sight;  and  in 
our  dwellings,  among  those  we  love,  in  the 
special  seclusion  of  our  hearts  and  our  lives  and 
our  loves,  may  there  thy  kingdom  beam  upon  us 
with  celestial  glories  in  the  common  things  of 
our  daily  lot,  in  those  whom  we  meet  day  by 
day  and  hour  by  hour,  and  become  so  accus- 
tomed to  them  that  there  may  be  a  veil  drawn 
before  their  goodness.  Almighty  God,  may  we 
believe  in  the  loveliness  of  human  hearts,  the 
beauty  of  human  life ;  and  may  we  travel  into  no 
distant  world  or  custom  or  clime,  but  learn  that 
the  besetting  God  is  ever  near,  encompassing  us 
behind  and  before,  and  laying  his  hand  upon  us 
in  infinite  wisdom  and  infinite  love. 

Almighty  God,  let  thy  pitying  care  be  upon  all 
the  distressed,  the  unfortunate,  the  poor,  the 
wandering,  the  wicked.  Check  the  proud  and 
vain ;  lift  up  the  fallen ;  comfort  and  console  the 
broken-hearted;  and  according  to  thine  infinite 
and  inspiring  will  help,  comfort,  chastise,  re- 
buke, and  bless  thy  people  everywhere. 

0  thou  Infinite  and  Holy  One, — thou  infinite, 
unique,  and  eternal  Love, — would  that  my  heart 
were  as  thy  heart,  and  that  wholly !  And  may  it 
be  even  so  with  all  thy  people,  thou  Infinite  God 
of  eternal  life.  AMEN. 


158 


0  God,  our  Inspirer,  quicken  our  hearts  by  thy 
Spirit  now  to  discern  thy  near-by  truth  and  pres- 
ence; and,  in  manifestations  of  that  truth  and 
presence,  may  we  ever  adore  the  besetting  God, 
the  inspiring  One.  Let  thy  fullness  be  poured 
in  ample  floods  upon  our  receptive  and  teachable 
hearts,  giving  us  wisdom,  giving  us  grace;  and 
let  moral  beauty  dawn  upon  us  from  thine  in- 
finite and  eternal  Spirit.  AMEN. 


159 


NOVEMBER  17,  1889  —  EVENING 

0  GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  we  are  come  again 
to  our  place  of  prayer.  From  the  heights  of 
revering  thought,  of  true  and  pure  feeling,  of 
reverence  for  thy  word  and  thy  providence,  we 
would  look  abroad  upon  thy  ways  with  man  on 
the  earth.  We  adore  with  reverent  and  devout 
minds  that  solemn  procession  of  history  which 
moves  forward  beneath  thine  enchurching 
Spirit,  guiding  mankind  in  doubts  and  perplex- 
ity, in  wickedness  and  in  wrong,  to  serener 
heights  of  patience,  of  pure  acts,  of  charity  and 
good,  and  giving  fuller  gleams  of  that  eternal 
kingdom  which  thy  Son  did  preach.  We  adore 
with  reverent  awe,  with  holy  fear,  and  with  in- 
spiring hope  the  progress  of  thy  truth.  We 
grieve  over  the  darkness,  the  wrong,  and  the  sin 
of  the  world;  and  we  would  grieve  and  repent 
sincerely  over  our  own  ignorance,  our  darkness, 
and  our  sins.  And  those  sins  which  we  do  sin- 
cerely repent  of,  0  God,  remove  them  from  us, 
we  pray  thee,  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west ; 
and  may  we  have  something  of  that  experience 
which  the  finest  spirits  of  mankind  have  had — 

160 


the  experience  which  taught  them  that  there  was 
no  contradiction  between  thy  will  and  their  will, 
that  they  have  been  led  by  thy  hand  and  in- 
spired by  thy  Spirit,  and  that  in  days  of  tumult 
and  trial,  and  in  the  last  earthly  extremity,  they 
have  had  a  great  and  exceeding  peace. 

Let  thy  blessing,  we  pray  thee,  be  a  hallowed 
and  consecrated  benediction  upon  all  the  insti- 
tutions of  society  that  promote  the  welfare  of 
man,  the  good  of  the  people,  the  cherishing  and 
teaching  of  human  love,  the  guide  of  the  spirit 
of  man;  and  as  our  years  increase  and  our  ex- 
perience grows  deeper,  may  we  learn  that  the 
chief  thing,  the  chief  thing  on  this  earth,  is  not 
a  thing  but  a  being — an  immortal  nature — man, 
thy  child,  thy  son.  May  we  learn  to  look  upon 
human  society  as  more  beautiful  than  worlds  or 
stars;  that  we  may  look  upon  justice  as  more 
wonderful  and  more  glorious  than  any  proces- 
sions of  the  seasons,  than  any  revolutions  of  the 
earth,  than  any  motions  of  systems  and  of  suns ; 
and  may  truth  be  more  beautiful  than  the  morn- 
ing, and  wisdom  fairer  than  the  skies,  and  love 
sweeter  than  any  landscape,  sublimer  than  the 
sea,  and  stronger  than  the  mountain;  and  so, 
having  the  beatific  vision  in  our  hearts,  may  we 
have  something  of  celestial  light  beaming  up- 
on our  minds;  and,  inspired  by  a  great  hope, 
may  we  have  great  generosity  of  feeling,  great 

161 


courage  of  thought,  great  persuasion  and  convic- 
tion. And  do  thou  grant,  Almighty  God,  as  in 
thy  wisdom  shall  seem  best,  the  fulfillment  of  the 
prophecies  of  thy  word,  spoken  by  those  who 
have  seen  in  sublime  vision  of  truth  and  love, 
and  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  coming  of  an 
eternal  kingdom — a  kingdom  of  power  and  of 
peace,  a  kingdom  of  unspeakable  glory.  And 
may  those  of  us  who  shall  never  see  that  king- 
dom here  on  earth,  may  we  live  and  die  in  the 
grateful  and  devout  expectation  that  we  shall  be, 
and  are,  partakers  of  that  kingdom  in  scenes  be- 
yond this  world.  And  so  let  thy  people  be 
blessed  and  lifted  up  forever  and  forever. 

We  ask  thy  blessing  upon  all  the  people  of  the 
city  to-night ;  upon  every  home  and  habitation  of 
man;  upon  all  classes  and  conditions  and  for- 
tunes of  human  life.  Watch  with  those  that 
watch;  pray  with  those  that  pray,  and  listen  to 
their  prayer;  and  let  thy  benediction,  thy  chas- 
tening grace,  thy  retributive  mercies  be  with 
those  who  are  gone  astray  in  paths  of  wrong  and 
wickedness;  and  do  thou  chastise,  redeem,  and 
bless  all  thy  children  according  to  thy  wisdom, 
thy  goodness,  and  thy  power.  AMEN. 


NOVEMBEE  24,  1889 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  we  lift  up  our 
hearts  to  thee  in  devout  prayer  and  gratitude; 
we  humbly  confess  our  sins  and  we  look  up  to 
thee  for  thy  free  and  abundant  grace  to  remove 
our  sins  from  us  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the 
west.  Pity  our  weaknesses ;  reprove  our  wrong ; 
and  by  thy  good  Spirit  lead  us  in  paths  of 
beauty  and  truth  and  peace. 

We  confess,  with  holy  reverence,  thy  guidance 
of  thy  people  hitherto,  and  that  thou  dost  lift 
them  up  forever  and  forever.  We  own  thy 
protecting  power  and  guiding  Spirit  in  the  life 
of  the  world,  in  the  life  of  the  Church  of  thy 
Son  Jesus  Christ;  and  we  pray  that  the  vision 
of  prophets  and  saints  and  martyrs,  and  the 
prophetic  word  of  thy  Son,  may  in  the  eternal 
years  of  God  be  fulfilled.  May  the  time  come 
when  that  Spirit  of  truth — the  Spirit  of  God — 
shall  so  inspire  and  dwell  and  abide  in  the  hearts 
of  men  that  there  shall  be  peace  in  thy  holy 
mountain,  truth  in  all  thy  temples ;  and  that  the 
heart  of  man  shall  everywhere  rejoice  in  the 
abundance  of  the  grace  and  beauty  of  God. 

163 


Heal  all  our  weaknesses,  our  prejudices,  our 
evil  passions ;  lift  up  our  hearts  into  that  greater 
and  mightier  kingdom  of  thy  will  and  of  thy 
love;  and  help  each  one  of  us  to  enter  into  this 
kingdom  in  his  own  heart,  in  his  own  home,  and 
in  his  relations  to  his  fellow  men.  Help  us  in 
our  dwellings,  in  our  homes,  to  live  in  the  large 
grace  of  a  pure  affection,  of  an  upright  will,  a 
true  feeling,  and  a  devout  and  reverent  heart. 
Shine  by  thy  gracious  Spirit  upon  the  towers 
and  citadels  of  the  New  Jerusalem ;  bring  forth 
in  the  hearts  of  men  the  glad  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness; and  may  the  time  come  when  man  shall 
have  no  cause  to  say  to  his  fellow  man,  ' '  Know 
ye  the  Lord,"  inasmuch  as  all  shall  know  thee, 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest,  and  shall  be 
blessed  in  obedience  to  thy  will. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  to-night  upon  all  the  peo- 
ple of  the  city — upon  every  class  and  condition 
and  fortune  of  human  life  and  human  lot ;  upon 
every  age  and  experience;  upon  every  trial  of 
sorrow  or  of  joy,  of  prosperity  or  adversity ;  and 
let  all  the  people  be  blessed  in  thee,  the  common 
Father  of  all.  Let  thy  gracious  providence  and 
protecting  care  be  upon  all  men  everywhere. 
Chastise,  correct,  guide,  lead  forward  thy  people 
forever  and  forever.  AMEN. 


164 


DECEMBER  1,  1889 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  we  look  up  to  thee; 
we  thank  thee  for  thy  protecting  care,  for  thine 
upholding  providence,  for  thine  inspiring  Spirit, 
and  for  thy  love  toward  us  manifested  in  Jesus 
Christ,  thy  Son.  We  thank  thee  for  the  day; 
for  its  respite  from  the  usual  cares  and  duties  of 
life;  for  its  blessed  opportunity  of  home,  of 
friendship,  of  thy  house  of  prayer  and  hymn 
and  teaching;  and  for  all  the  blessings  of  tradi- 
tion and  of  truth  that  gather  around  it. 

And  now  we  ask  thy  blessing  on  us,  as  with 
sincerity  of  mind  and  devoutness  of  heart  we 
lift  up  our  prayer  to  thee,  and  ask  thee  to  bestow 
upon  us  all  the  good  that  thou  knowest  we 
need, — the  good  of  thy  Spirit,  of  thy  grace,  of 
thy  forgiving  love,  thy  tender  and  paternal  ad- 
monitions, and  thy  wise  reproofs.  Give  us,  we 
pray  thee,  by  thy  good  providence  seconding  our 
honest  labors, — give  us  the  things  of  this  life  that 
are  good  for  the  body,  and  are  thy  providence 
and  the  ways  of  thy  provision  for  the  children 
of  men. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  refreshing  rain;  we 

165 


thank  thee  for  dwellings  whose  walls  are 
adorned  with  many  blessed  vines  of  human  af- 
fections, consecrated  to  our  hearts  by  pleasant 
memories,  and  in  which  we  may  have  some 
thought  and  some  realization  of  what  thy  people 
have  ever  called  the  kingdom  of  God.  And 
we  ask  thy  blessing,  Almighty  God,  upon  all  the 
people,  upon  every  class  and  condition  and  for- 
tune of  man.  Assuage  the  passions  and  preju- 
dices of  men ;  awaken  their  minds  from  the  deep 
slumbers  of  ignorance  and  passion  and  strife; 
and  bring  in  the  light  of  a  better  truth,  a  purer 
affection,  and  a  more  divine  grace ;  and  may  we 
all  be  led  to  feel  how  feeble  and  how  small  is  our 
individual  share  yet  in  the  wonder,  the  glory, 
and  the  power  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  may 
we  ever  expect  more  and  more  of  thee;  may  we 
ever  believe  in  thee  for  the  best  things ;  and  may 
our  faith  in  thee  be  worthy  ourselves  and 
worthy  thee,  thou  Almighty  and  All-loving  One. 
Holy  Father,  hear  our  prayer;  forgive  our 
sins;  lift  us  up  from  every  weakness,  and  make 
us  able  to  stand, — to  stand  upon  our  feet  in 
justice,  in  righteousness,  in  purity  of  purpose, 
and  in  upright  will, — to  serve  God  with  our  fel- 
low men,  careless  for  this  or  for  that,  if  only  God 
speaks  to  us  and  we  shall  hear.  AMEN. 


166 


DECEMBEE   8,    1889  -  MOENING 

0  GOD,  thou  who  art  to  be  feared  and  reverenced 
by  all  intelligent  creatures,  we  look  up  unto 
thee  with  devout  and  humble  feeling,  with  peni- 
tent and  contrite  hearts;  we  cast  ourselves  upon 
thine  almighty  arm,  and  implore  thee  for  all  we 
need.  "We  thank  thee  for  thy  protection;  we 
thank  thee  for  thy  paternal  providence;  and 
more,  and  most  of  all,  for  thine  inspiring  Spirit 
that  gives  discernment  to  the  heart  of  man.  We 
look  abroad  upon  the  world  around  us;  we  be- 
hold Nature  in  her  beauty,  in  her  glory,  in  her 
terror  and  her  storms, — these  are  the  vestures 
of  the  Almighty.  Thy  power  is  seen  in  the 
heavens  above  and  upon  the  earth  beneath,  and 
abroad  upon  the  great  deep.  The  mountains 
stand  fast  by  thy  power ;  the  forests  wave  in  the 
winds  of  heaven;  and  the  earth  and  day  and 
night  are  firm  and  strong  in  thy  presence  and  in 
thy  Spirit.  But  these  are  the  things  of  thy  crea- 
tion, the  things  of  thine  upholding,  and  the 
things  of  thy  power;  they  know  thee  not;  the 
mountains  know  thee  not;  the  sea  speaks  no 
word  of  prayer;  the  fair  fields  of  living  green 
smile  beneath  the  sun  or  drink  the  gentle  rains 

167 


of  heaven,  but  return  no  gratitude;  while  the 
heart  of  man  discerns  in  these  thy  power, 
thy  goodness,  and  thy  inspiration;  'tis  the 
heart  of  man  alone  that  can  welcome  thee  as 
a  divine  guest,  that  can  receive  thee  with  heaven- 
ly hospitality,  and  bless  thee  for  thy  Spirit  and 
thy  grace.  0  God,  give  us,  thy  children,  we 
beseech  thee,  this  divine,  this  heavenly  grace  to 
stand  apart  from  the  outward  world  and  to  look 
upon  it;  to  retire  from  the  outward  world  to 
the  world  within,  undelayed  by  outward  glories, 
undazzled  by  brilliant  suns  or  stars,  and  in  safe 
retreat  in  thy  eternal  strength. 

Almighty  God,  we  thank  thee  for,  and  we  con- 
fess thee  in,  thine  eternal,  unfailing  law — the 
law  that  holds  the  worlds  in  place,  that  keeps 
them  in  their  courses,  that  restrains  the  sea  with- 
in its  bounds,  that  sends  the  rain  upon  the  earth, 
and  pours  rivers  towards  the  eternal  floods  of 
the  ocean.  In  these  we  revere  thee ;  but  more  in 
the  heart  of  man,  in  the  law  of  thy  righteous- 
ness, thy  goodness,  and  in  the  beauty  of  thy 
holiness.  And  may  we  be  partakers,  Almighty 
One,  of  something  of  thine  own  greatness  and 
glory;  may  our  consciences  respond  quickly  to 
thy  least  command;  may  our  hearts  leap  up 
gladly  to  love  thee ;  may  our  wills  be  blessed  in 
thee — in  obedience  to  thee;  and  may  an  eternal 
Rock  ever  be  our  refuge  and  our  strength. 

168 


We  ask  thy  blessing,  Holy  One,  upon  our 
homes,  upon  our  kindred  and  our  friends, 
wherever  they  are  on  the  earth ;  and  we  pray  for 
those  too  who  are  in  heaven,  blessed  as  they  are 
indeed  in  the  nearer  presence  of  God.  And  may 
we  all  live  as  in  thy  presence  wherever  we  are; 
and  by  sea  or  land,  by  night  or  day,  may  we  be 
living  a  spiritual  life,  hid  in  the  eternal  life  of 
the  Lord.  AMEN. 

0  thou  Searcher  of  all  hearts, '  *  Search  me  and 
know  me,  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in 
me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting.'*  Let 
that  be  the  prayer  of  thy  servants,  and  by  thy 
Spirit  purify  the  spiritual  rays  that  dawn  upon 
our  minds ;  and  amid  worlds  and  suns,  amid  per- 
plexity or  danger  or  fear,  may  we  ever  be  secure 
in  thine  eternal  Spirit  and  thy  eternal  life. 
AMEN. 


DECEMBEK   8,    1889  —  EVENING 
(After  the  death  of  Jefferson  Davis.) 

0  THOU  ALMIGHTY  CfoD,  Infinite  and  Holy  One, 
we  adore  thy  power  and  thy  providence;  we 
bless  thine  inspiring  Spirit  and  paternal  love; 
and  we  come  again,  in  the  evening  hour,  to  our 
place  of  prayer,  and  we  look  up  to  thee  with 
devout  and  holy  feeling.  We  confess  our  sins, 
our  weaknesses,  and  our  oft  going  astray;  and 
we  pray  thee  to  receive  us,  as  we  are  returned 
to  thee  and  remind  ourselves  of  thee,  our 
strength,  our  refuge,  and  our  rest. 

For  all  tokens  of  thy  power  in  the  world 
around  we  ever  bless  thee ;  for  the  tokens  of  thy 
providence  in  the  world  of  mankind  we  ever  re- 
joice and  are  glad  with  reverent  joy  and  glad- 
ness; and  we  thank  thee  for  every  token  of  a 
divine  guidance,  a  divine  power  that  the  life  of 
man  affords, — that  in  all  ages  and  times  and 
periods  thou  hast  had  witnesses  of  thee  in  saints 
and  prophets  and  martyrs;  that  thou  hast  been 
with  thy  people  evermore;  and  that  every  wise 
cause,  and  every  just  enterprise  and  power  of 

170 


man,  has  been  promoted  by  thy  providence  and 
thy  will. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  our  coun- 
try,— for  its  fair  and  large  domain,  for  its 
happy  people,  its  thronging  industries,  its  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  of  law  and  religion;  and 
that,  under  the  protection  of  a  wise  and  great 
constitution  that  looks  upon  all  men  as  equal, — 
equal  before  God, — we  thank  thee  that  the  peo- 
ple have  peace.  And  we  ask  thy  blessing,  Al- 
mighty Father,  that  all  the  memories  of  the  past, 
that  all  the  strifes  and  war  of  the  past,  may  be 
year  by  year  forgotten ;  and  as  the  gentle  stream 
of  history  flows  on  toward  the  eternal  sea  may 
prejudice  be  assuaged,  may  good  feeling  be 
kindled,  and  may  commerce  and  intercourse  and 
learning  and  religion  flow  like  rivers  of  goodness 
and  blessing  through  all  our  land. 

Almighty  Father,  we  ask  thy  blessing,  and  we 
implore  thy  inspiring  Spirit,  for  every  just  and 
generous  sentiment,  for  every  magnanimous 
feeling,  for  every  word  of  faith  and  confidence 
and  truth.  Let  thy  people  be  led  by  thy  provi- 
dence ;  let  them  be  guided  by  a  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day  and  of  fire  by  night ;  and  here  may  blessing 
and  honor  abide  forever  and  forever. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  all  the  people  of  the 
city — upon  all  classes  and  fortunes  and  condi- 
tions of  men.  Chastise,  reprove,  bless,  pity,  and 
171 


lift  up,  according  to  the  want,  the  distress,  the 
weakness  of  the  waywardness  of  all  mankind, 
and  let  all  thy  people  be  blessed  in  the  common 
eternal  good-will  of  God.  AMEN. 


172 


DECEMBEB  15,  1889 

0  INFINITE  AND  HOLY  ONE,  in  the  evening  hour 
we  are  come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer.  For 
the  quiet  day,  for  its  freedom  from  common 
duties  and  labors,  for  its  happy  opportunities 
for  occasion  of  thought  and  teaching,  and  medi- 
tation and  prayer,  we  thank  thee.  We  thank 
thee  for  homes  consecrated  by  many  charities; 
for  life  sweetened  by  many  pure  affections ;  and 
for  all  the  consecration  which  these  receive  from 
thy  blessing  and  thy  Spirit.  And  we  look  to  thee 
now  with  gratitude,  and  ask  from  thee  more  and 
more.  We  ask  from  thee  the  abundant  enlight- 
enment of  thy  Spirit — that  gentle,  heavenly  and 
gracious  influence  which,  descending  upon  the 
hearts  of  men  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  leads  them 
into  all  truth,  illumines  their  minds  with  celes- 
tial light,  and  gives  beauty  and  order  and  law 
and  inspiration  and  love  to  our  being. 

Almighty  One,  look  upon  us,  we  pray  thee, 
with  all  those  feelings  which  thou  hast  taught  us 
in  thy  word  and  by  the  gospel  of  thy  Son  that 
thou  dost  hold  toward  all  thine  earthly  children. 
Look  with  patience  upon  our  ignorance,  our 
173 


weakness,  our  forgetfulness,  or  our  indifference. 
Awaken  our  minds  to  finer  sensibilities;  inspire 
our  imaginations  that  we  may  see  truth  from 
afar,  and  seeing  and  feeling  that  we  belong  to 
thy  family,  that  we  receive  our  life  from  thee, 
and  our  nature  is  like  thine  own,  may  we  feel  in- 
deed that  we  have  a  great  destiny,  a  great  hope, 
an  inextinguishable  being. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for  those  rich 
treasures  of  the  past  that  have  come  down  to  us, 
and  are  a  source  of  enjoyment  to  us, — for  the 
lives  of  the  great  and  the  good,  the  humble  and 
the  true,  those  who  have  imbued  the  world  with 
something  of  their  own  beauty,  who  have  in- 
spired the  heart  of  man  with  something  of  the 
truth  they  received  from  God,  and  have  handed 
it  down  to  us ;  and  may  we  hand  it  down  to  the 
generations  that  come  after  us.  Thou  hast  had 
a  royal  line  of  heroes  and  martyrs  and  saints; 
they  have  been  here  and  there  upon  the  earth  in 
all  periods  of  time  and  history, — men  and 
women  who  were  ready  to  live  or  die  for  the 
truth,  and  who  gloried  in  their  devotion  and  in 
their  self-surrender  to  what  they  thought  best 
and  truest. 

Almighty  God,  inspire  us  with  deeper  senti- 
ments for  the  common  daily  duties  of  human 
life,  the  daily  round  of  life,  its  ever-returning 
cares,  its  monotonous  anxieties,  that  they  all 

174 


may  be  lifted  up  and  glorified,  and  made  the 
teaching  and  discipline  which  fit  us  for  immortal 
life. 

Holy  Father,  we  ask  thy  blessing  upon  all  thy 
people  to-night.  Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  every 
dwelling.  Comfort  those  who  are  in  trouble  and 
distress;  help  them  to  bear  their  troubles,  and 
give  them  a  word  of  comfort  and  help  in  their 
distress;  and  increase  our  human  sympathies 
until  we  feel  that  our  great  distinction  is  that 
we  are  human.  AMEN. 


175 


DECEMBEE  22,  1889 

0  GOD,  our  Father,  all  creatures  praise  thee ;  thy 
works  praise  thee;  and  our  hearts  bless  thee. 
Thou  Spirit  of  eternal  life,  thou  all-holy  and  all- 
good,  come  by  thy  gracious  Spirit  to  thy  people 
now,  and  give  us  that  divine  communion  with 
thyself  which  is  the  life  of  our  life  and  the  light 
of  our  light ;  and  let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our 
God  be  upon  us, — something  of  the  beauty  of 
thine  eternal  excellence,  the  beauty  of  thy  joy, 
the  beauty  of  thy  love.  We  are  very  poor  and 
needy,  and  our  need  is  our  blessing;  that  we 
need  thy  Spirit,  that  we  need  thy  grace,  that  we 
need  thy  strong  supporting  hand  and  thy  holy 
providence,  thy  paternal  care,  is  indeed  our 
blessing. 

Thou  who  in  thine  eternal  strength  knowest 
no  change  or  shadow  of  age,  look  down  with 
gentle  and  tender  regard  upon  us  in  our  earthly 
vicissitudes,  in  our  changing  seasons  and  years, 
in  our  feeble  or  failing  earthly  days,  and  give  us 
to  know  and  feel  and  to  be  partakers  of  thine 
eternal  strength. 

We  come  to  thee,  0  God,  to  our  place  of 

176 


prayer  from  the  daily  experiences  of  human  life. 
Some  of  us  come  in  joy  and  gladness,  some  in 
pain  and  tears ;  give  us  all  to  rejoice  in  God,  our 
Maker;  to  rejoice  in  his  commandment,  in  the 
strength  and  power  of  his  hand,  in  the  tender- 
ness of  his  mercies  and  the  righteousness  of  his 
retributions;  and  so  may  we  feel  that  here  on 
earth  we  are  entering  into  that  higher  life  that 
belongs  ever  to  the  sons  of  God. 

We  thank  thee,  Holy  Father,  for  all  the  kindly 
charities,  the  hallowed  loves,  the  sacred  bonds  of 
our  earthly  lot.  We  thank  thee  for  the  sympa- 
thies we  have  for  our  fellow  beings, — that  when 
they  are  in  distress,  we  are  in  distress ;  that  when 
they  are  cast  down,  we  feel  that  we  put  our 
hands,  feeble  though  they  are,  beneath  them  and 
lift  them  up.  And  we  thank  thee  that  we  may 
humbly  feel  that  in  these  divine  sympathies  we 
have  something  in  our  hearts  of  a  revelation  of 
thy  heart ;  and  may  we  in  our  best  moments  cry 
unto  thee,  "0  that  my  heart  were  as  thy  heart, 
and  that  wholly." 

Almighty  God,  thou  Father  of  man,  thou 
Maker  and  Sustainer  of  the  worlds,  give  us  a 
dwelling-place  in  the  strength  of  thine  eternal 
power  and  truth  and  commandment,  peace  in 
thine  inspiring  Spirit,  and  hope  in  thy  great 
promises.  Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  us,  we  pray 
thee,  and  upon  all  thy  human  family  everywhere 
177 


on  earth,  everywhere  in  heaven.  Let  thy  Spirit 
and  thy  grace  comfort,  inspire,  encourage,  and 
bless.  Forgive  our  sins,  and  help  us  to  forsake 
them ;  and  by  thy  wisdom  do  thou  be  wiser  than 
our  understanding ;  and  by  thy  strength  do  thou 
be  stronger  than  our  strength.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  inspire  by  thy 
Spirit  every  good  sentiment  and  pure  desire  in 
our  hearts.  Give  us  that  depth  of  wisdom  to 
know  our  wants,  and  knowing  our  wants  may 
they  be  supplied  from  divine  and  eternal  foun- 
tains; and  may  we  increase  in  wisdom,  may  we 
increase  in  moral  and  spiritual  life,  and  may  we 
see  that  the  eternal  rock  of  safety  and  strength 
is  within ;  a  feeling  of  being  at  one  with  thee,  at 
one  with  ourselves,  at  one  with  the  world.  AMEN. 


178 


JANUAEY   5,   1890  — MOENING 

0  GOD,  our  Father,  thou  Almighty  and  All-glor- 
ious One,  we  comprehend  thee  not ;  thou  art  past 
our  understanding, — "We  pass  our  days  as  a 
tale  that  is  told":  "from  everlasting  to  everlast- 
ing, thou  art  God. "  If  in  the  midst  of  thy  great- 
ness and  surrounded  by  the  tokens  of  thine  infi- 
nite power,  we  are  ever  quite  overcome  and  feel 
that  we  are  little  and  nothing,  if  in  the  midst  of 
thy  works  or  in  the  whelming  flood  of  thine  eter- 
nal years  we  feel  our  weakness,  we  feel  that  in 
the  crowds  of  the  generations  of  men  that  are 
moving  on  we  are  quite  lost  from  thee  and  to  thy 
love  and  thy  wisdom,  0  God,  may  we  remember 
that  thou  dost  count  the  stars ;  that  thou  dost  call 
the  hosts  of  heaven  by  name,  even  as  a  shepherd 
of  Israel  called  his  sheep  by  name;  that  thou 
holdest  the  ocean  in  the  hollow  of  thine  hand; 
and  unknown  and  little  as  we  seem  sometimes  in 
our  moments  of  discouragement  or  doubt  or  de- 
spair, may  we  remember  that  thy  care  is  infinite, 
thy  love  is  boundless  and  ever-watchful,  and  that 
the  mountains  in  their  eternal  strength  are  not 
so  much  to  thee  as  one  human  heart.  The  moun- 
179 


tain  has  no  grief,  it  has  no  sorrow,  it  has  no  joy, 
and  if  it  ever  seems  to  weep,  it  is  but  the  rain 
falling  from  the  clouds.  The  ocean  sends  up  its 
eternal  voice  to  thee,  but  it  is  not  a  prayer,  it  is 
not  a  penitence,  it  is  not  a  sorrow,  it  is  not  a  joy. 
Almighty  One,  may  we  cherish  these  things — 
these  human  things — in  our  hearts,  and  ever  be 
refreshed  and  stand  off  against  the  world  with 
conscious  power  in  the  light  of  God. 

We  thank  thee,  Almighty  One,  thou  Maker 
and  Guardian  of  our  human  days  here  on  earth, 
that  there  are  so  many  of  thy  children  that  can 
give  testimony  and  witness  to  the  goodness  and 
the  mercy  of  God.  Led  by  thy  hand,  cherished 
by  thy  love,  guarded  by  thy  providence,  the  aged 
man  at  evening,  as  he  looks  abroad  upon  the  dis- 
tant horizon  or  into  the  deep  heaven,  can  say  in 
his  heart,  in  silence  and  in  peace,  "  Behold  the 
goodness  and  the  mercy  of  God. ' '  The  child  looks 
forward  with  boundless  hope,  and,  bounding 
with  expectation  and  joy,  knows  not  what  is  be- 
fore him ;  but  he  has  been  taught  a  gentle  prayer 
and  his  evening  pillow  is  made  smooth  by  the 
thought  that  he  has  a  Father  in  heaven ;  and  so 
our  earthly  days,  from  childhood  and  youth  and 
manhood  and  age,  are  surrounded  by,  infused  by 
the  immanent  and  ever-present  God. 

And  now  we  pray  thee,  Almighty  One,  that 
our  hearts  may  use  rightly  every  moment,  every 

180 


event,  every  occasion,  and  every  thing;  and  for- 
getting the  steps  taken  in  the  past,  may  we  make 
a  new  beginning  in  the  race  for  an  eternal  crown. 
May  we  remember  that  we  are  surrounded  by  a 
cloud  of  witnesses, — not  on  earth  merely  or 
chiefly,  but  the  witnesses  that  have  gone  forward 
and  look  down  upon  us  from  a  higher  sphere; 
who  sympathize  with  our  struggles,  who  mourn 
at  our  failures,  and  who  rejoice  at  our  success. 
And  so  may  our  hearts  be  tempered  and  kept  by 
thy  inspiration ;  may  we  ever  be  awake  to  every 
sense  of  duty;  may  we  esteem  conscience  more 
than  any  earthly  goods ;  and  may  we  esteem  our 
greatest  possession, — the  possession  of  power 
over  ourselves,  to  do  right,  to  revere  God,  to  do 
justly,  and  to  walk  humbly. 

Now,  Holy  Father,  be  with  us,  thy  people ;  be 
with  all  men,  thy  children;  let  thy  Spirit  go 
forth,  enchurching  itself  in  the  human  world. 
May  that  kingdom  of  God  which  thy  Son  fore- 
told and  taught,  may  it  be  coming ;  and  may  thy 
human  race  be  lifted  and  lifted  nearer  and  near- 
er to  it ;  and  may  we  ourselves  be  partakers  in  it ; 
and  may  that  kingdom  abide  in  our  hearts. 

Now  let  thy  blessing  be  with  all  thy  people 
according  to  their  wants, — those  who  are  grieved 
and  afflicted,  those  who  are  glad  and  happy, 
those  who  are  oppressed  and  cast  down  in 
despair, — all,  all, — may  they  have  the  Spirit,  the 

181 


blessing,    and   the   care    of    God,    the   common 
Father  of  all.    AMEN. 


0  God,  hear  now  the  prayer  of  thy  people,  that 
that  which  is  best  in  their  hearts,  in  purpose  and 
in  desire,  by  thy  quickening  Spirit  and  grace 
may  be  abundantly  fulfilled.  Forgive  our  sins; 
lift  us  up  from  all  our  downfalls  and  our  des- 
pair; and  encourage  us  by  thy  word  from  on 
high,  calling  us  to  victory,  to  duty,  and  to  eternal 
life.  AMEN. 


182 


JANUAEY   5,   1890 -EVENING 

GOD,  our  Father,  in  the  stillness  of  the  evening 
hour  we  are  come  again  to  our  place  of  prayer. 
The  nightly  hosts  are  marshaled  upon  the  sky; 
the  earth  turns  upon  its  soft  and  silent  axis; 
day  and  night,  morning  and  evening,  noonday 
and  darkness  are  all  subject  to  thy  command- 
ment; and  all  things,  and  all  creatures,  are  sus- 
tained by  thy  power  and  protected  by  thy  care. 
We  confess  with  reverent  and  filial  feeling  that 
care.  We  own  with  gratitude  a  wisdom  greater 
than  ours,  a  knowledge  that  includes  our  igno- 
rance, and  a  loving-kindness  and  a  tender  mercy 
that  are  from  everlasting  to  everlasting. 

And  now,  Holy  One,  thou  Eternal  Spirit, 
dwell  in  our  hearts,  we  pray  thee;  kindle  anew 
that  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world;  and  may  we  feel  that  the  gospel 
of  thy  Son  is  the  renewal  of  our  nature,  the  re- 
viving of  our  power,  the  strength  and  annuncia- 
tion of  all  that  is  best  in  us,  of  all  that  is  true  and 
pure  and  good.  May  we  understand  his  words 
that  he  spoke,  saying  ''That  he  came  not  to  de- 
stroy, but  to  fulfill,"— to  fulfill  thy  word  spoken 
of  old ;  to  fulfill  that  common  nature  which  thou 

183 


hast  given  us  of  thyself ;  to  make  us  partakers  of 
life  more  abundantly.  And  may  we  see  this  life ; 
may  we  enjoy  its  power ;  may  we  be  led,  through 
its  grace  and  through  its  benediction,  in  the 
simplest  walks  of  life,  in  the  humblest  place  of 
duty ;  and  in  all  may  we  discern  that  it  takes  no 
great  theater  of  this  world  to  hold  the  kingdom 
of  God;  each  one  of  us,  in  our  places,  in  our 
daily  and  ever-returning  duties,  in  the  constant 
relation  with  our  fellow  beings,  may  we  be  con- 
scious that  we  are  governed  by  divine  power,  of 
will,  of  conscience,  of  beauty,  and  of  truth;  and 
may  reverence  for  thee,  and  abundant  sympathy 
with  our  fellow  men,  be  to  us  the  constant  wit- 
ness that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  upon  us;  and  as 
thy  Son  ascended  from  his  baptism  and  the 
Spirit  lighted  upon  him,  saying,  * '  This  is  my  be- 
loved Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased,"  may  we, 
thy  children,  have  something  of  the  same  divine 
benediction,  and  know  that  we  and  God  are  one. 
Holy  Father,  let  thy  tender  care  be  in  every 
dwelling  and  in  every  heart ;  let  thy  kingdom  of 
peace  and  righteousness  and  power  be  increasing 
in  glory  and  strength ;  and  as  we,  each  one  in  thy 
good  time,  go  forward  beyond  these  earthly 
scenes,  may  we  be  satisfied  with  the  appoint- 
ments of  Heaven,  and  may  we  trust  that  what- 
ever is  best  for  us  will  be  done  by  almighty  wis- 
dom, goodness,  and  power.  AMEN. 

184 


JANUAEY  12,  1890 

0  INFINITE  AND  HOLY  ONE,  we  lift  up  our  hearts 
to  thee  in  reverence  and  holy  fear ;  we  bow  down 
in  humble  contrition  and  penitence;  we  praise 
thee,  we  glorify  thee,  thou  Lord  God  Almighty. 
And  come  now,  by  thy  gracious  Spirit,  to  our 
hearts,  and  reveal  unto  us  the  hidden  things  of 
thy  grace  and  thy  love.  Temper  our  minds  to 
the  daily  experience  of  our  earthly  lot ;  and  teach 
us  through  all  vicissitudes  of  change  or  disap- 
pointment or  decay  to  win  the  victory  of  our  be- 
ing, the  triumph  of  our  faith,  the  purpose  of  our 
life,  and  to  find  that  life  hid  with  Christ's  in 
God. 

We  thank  thee  always  for  the  common  gifts  of 
thy  providence, — gifts  that  are  so  common  that 
we  are  quite  inclined  to  forget  them, — daily 
blessings,  hourly  comforts,  which  demand  our 
gratitude  and  our  love,  but  which  we  are  quite 
disposed  to  think  belong  to  us,  as  though  we  had 
earned  them  by  the  labor  of  our  own  hands  or 
wrought  them  by  our  own  skill. 

Almighty  God,  forgive  our  weaknesses,  pity 
them,  we  pray  thee.  Teach  us  a  better  mind,  and 

185 


save  us  from  the  conceits  of  the  world.  We  thank 
thee,  Almighty  Father,  that  thou  hast  so  richly 
endowed  our  being,  that  in  the  humblest  things 
the  spiritual  mind  can  discern  beauty  and  grace 
and  loveliness.  The  simplest  acts  of  daily  life 
may  have  a  halo  of  wonder  and  beauty  around 
them;  and  the  simplest  circumstances  of  our 
earthly  lot,  the  plainest  duties,  the  daily  round 
of  care,  may  have  something  more  than  sunset  or 
sunrise  glory;  and  we  thank  thee  for  that  peace 
of  heart  which  thy  servants  enjoy  and  which  is 
beyond  all  understanding  of  the  wisdom  of  the 
world.  We  thank  thee,  Almighty  God,  for,  and 
our  hearts  are  lifted  up  as  we  read,  the  story  of 
self-renunciation  of  thy  servant  of  old,  who 
would  not  quench  his  thirst  with  the  water  that 
the  mighty  men  brought  to  him,  but  he  poured  it 
out  rather  as  an  oblation  to  God.  We  thank  thee 
for  the  story  of  that  womanly  heart  which  sought 
to  retrieve  and  bring  back  light  and  life  and 
peace  to  her  heart  as  she  broke  the  precious  oint- 
ment and  poured  it  upon  the  head  of  Jesus.  For 
every  act  of  moral  beauty,  for  every  act  of  spiri- 
tual life,  for  every  grace  that  adorns  life  and 
gives  wonder  and  mystery  to  our  being,  we  thank 
thee,  thou  Inspirer  of  all. 

We  pray  for  that  wisdom,  Almighty  God,  that 
shall  teach  us  to  discern  beauty  and  truth  and 
loveliness  in  our  daily  affairs,  in  our  work,  our 

186 


plodding,  our  ever-constant  and  returning  care. 
May  we  see  in  thy  providence  a  loveliness  beyond 
what  the  world  calls  success — something  for  the 
mind  to  rest  on,  something  with  which  the  heart 
may  be  refreshed. 

Holy  Father,  we  ask  thy  blessing  always  upon 
all  our  brethren,  the  common  family  of  man. 
Thy  promises  we  cannot  fathom ;  the  mystery  of 
time  and  events  we  can  see  into  but  a  little  way ; 
but  we  bless  thee  that  the  upright  man,  that  the 
good  and  true  heart,  can  do  what  it  may, — can 
do  its  duty,  and  look  up  unto  God  and  say, 
"Now,  thou  Almighty  and  All-righteous  One,  thy 
servant  hath  done  what  he  could;  do  thou  the 
rest/'  We  ask  thy  blessing  upon  us,  Holy  Father, 
that  by  thy  Spirit  and  grace  our  hearts  may  be 
so  tempered  and  our  wills  may  be  so  attuned,  we 
may  live  and  act  as  we  believe ;  that  we  may  put 
our  best  thoughts  and  our  best  feelings  into  daily 
practice ;  and  that  the  bare  and  rugged  walls  of 
life  may  be  entwined  with  beautiful  vines  of 
charity,  of  loveliness,  and  of  truth.  All  of 
which  we  ask,  as  thy  children,  in  the  name  of 
thy  Son  Jesus  Christ.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  receive  now  the 
devout  and  humble  desires  and  prayers  of  our 
hearts.  We  wish  that  we  were  altogether  at  our 
best ;  we  would  that  the  best  impulses,  the  purest 

187 


desires,  and  true  love  controlled  our  lives;  and 
that  our  whole  being  was  in  accord  with  thy 
divine  grace  and  thy  inspiring  Spirit.  Encour- 
age us  greatly ;  strengthen  us  with  eternal  right- 
eousness; and  give  us,  thy  children,  wandering 
wherever  we  may  be,  give  us  the  peace  of  God, 
which  passeth  understanding.  AMEN. 


188 


JANUARY  19,  1890 

GOD,  our  Father  in  heaven,  Maker  of  all  things 
and  Inspirer  of  men,  Holy  Providence  of  our 
lives,  Eternal  Spirit  of  life  and  joy  and  strength 
and  peace,  we  thy  children  come  again  in  our  ac- 
customed hour  to  lift  up  our  hearts  to  thee  in 
prayer,  in  solemn  praise,  in  awful  joy.  We  come 
as  we  are,  from  the  common  daily  experiences  of 
life,  its  ordinary  cares,  its  perplexities,  its 
anxieties,  its  gladness,  its  joy,  and  its  peace. 
Whatever  that  daily  life  has  been  to  us,  whatever 
it  has  brought  to  us  of  better  experience  and  of 
purer  knowledge,  we  come  now  to  confess  all  as 
of  thy  Spirit  and  thy  grace ;  and  we  thank  thee 
for  this  divine  providence  of  our  earthly  lot,  by 
which  thou  hast  given  us  enough  to  do, — work, 
care,  anxiety,  provision,  foresight,  industry, — 
in  these  all  we  would  see  thy  hand ;  we  would  see 
and  own  thy  teaching;  we  would  own  thy  guid- 
ance and  inspiring  Spirit. 

We  pray  thee,  Almighty  One,  to  help  us  with 
fortitude  of  will  and  with  pure  feelings  to  re- 
ceive thy  blessings  with  gratitude  and  thy  trials 
with  patient  resignation.     And  may  we  think 
189 


how  little  we  know;  and  may  we  think  how 
blessed  it  is  often  that  we  know  so  little.  Thou 
art  omniscient;  thou  knowest  all  things;  thou 
knowest  the  hearts  of  men ;  in  thy  hands  are  the 
issue  of  life  and  the  issue  of  death.  Why  should 
we  need,  feeble  as  we  are,  to  know  much?  We 
implore  thee,  0  God,  to  receive  us  into  thine  all- 
protecting  care,  into  thy  wise  and  Holy  Spirit; 
and  do  better  things  for  us  than  our  wisdom  can 
think  or  than  our  hearts  can  wish  or  our  hopes 
can  aspire. 

Holy  Father,  we  implore  thee  for  those  things 
that  thou  knowest  we  most  need, — for  a  filial 
heart,  for  wide  and  generous  human  sympathies, 
for  all  that  belongs  to  us  that  makes  us  peculiar- 
ly human  and  peculiarly  children  of  God.  Al- 
mighty One,  forgive  our  sins,  we  implore  thee, 
and  separate  them  from  us  as  far  as  the  east  is 
from  the  west.  Those  who  are  sincerely  peni- 
tent, let  them  be  restored  in  the  gladness  and  joy 
and  peace  of  thy  forgiveness,  and  grant  unto  us 
all,  in  the  private  experiences  of  our  own  hearts, 
that  increase  in  wisdom,  that  increase  in  love, 
which  shall  lead  us  to  believe  in  thee  more  fully, 
which  shall  give  us  a  complete  triumph  over  the 
illusions  of  the  world;  and  if  we  live  to  age,  to 
experience,  or  to  worldly  honor,  may  we  consider 
the  bloom  of  age,  the  wisdom  of  experience,  and 
the  glory  of  worldly  honor,  to  be  the  fact  that  we 

190 


know  thee,  the  ever-loving  and  true  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent.  And  thus, 
upon  the  summit  of  human  days,  may  we  look 
abroad  over  all  our  earthly  experience  and  ex- 
claim with  gratitude  and  trust  and  hope,  "  Be- 
hold the  wisdom,  the  goodness,  and  the  mercy  of 
God."  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  thou  Maker  of  us  all,  impress 
upon  our  hearts  all  their  pure  and  true  senti- 
ments, and  help  us  to  believe,  and  to  act  as  we 
believe,  the  best  things,  tne  best  feelings,  the  best 
thoughts.  Increase  our  human  regard ;  give  us  a 
higher  elevation  of  human  thought  and  feeling, 
from  which  we  can  look  upon  ourselves  as  we 
are,  and  upon  our  fellow  men  as  we  wish  that 
they  were;  and  may  thy  holy  providence,  the 
wise  teachings  of  thy  Spirit, — may  they  all  be 
for  us  and  for  our  fellow  men,  now  and  forever. 
AMEN. 


191 


JANUAEY  26,  1890  -  MORNING 

0  GOD,  our  Life  and  our  Light,  the  clouds  are 
scattered;  the  sun  comes  forth  in  his  strength; 
thy  glories  are  revealed  in  the  constant  and 
eternal  procession  of  thy  power,  thy  goodness, 
and  thy  love;  and  we  are  come,  in  the  order  of 
our  days  and  the  customary  hour,  again  to  this 
our  place  of  prayer.  We  have  left  our  homes, 
endeared  to  us  by  their  many  kindly  charities, 
their  walls  entwined  with  pleasant  vines  of 
beauty,  love,  and  hope.  Chastened,  it  may  be, 
by  trials,  deeply  enriched  by  tender  sorrows,  en- 
couraged and  blessed  by  mortal  hopes,  we  are 
come  here  to  our  common  place  of  prayer,  to 
make  common  supplication  unto  thee  in  the  name 
of  that  common  nature  which  thou  hast  inspired, 
and  in  the  name  of  thy  Son,  the  Captain,  the 
Leader  and  Guide  of  all. 

We  come  with  accustomed  blessing  to  thee.  We 
have  no  new  word  to  speak  of  our  wants,  our 
weaknesses,  or  our  sins;  it  is  the  same  oft- 
repeated  story  of  childlike  ignorance,  of  child- 
like love,  of  childlike  weakness,  wandering,  or 
forgetfulness.  But,  0  God,  however  childlike  we 

192 


are  or  indifferent  or  forgetful,  now  coming  back 
to  love  thee,  and  then  forgetting  thee  again,  thy 
goodness  keeps  on  forever;  thy  patience  is  an 
eternal  strength;  and  thy  love  flows  as  a  river 
through  the  landscape,  ever  strong ;  and  thou  art 
never  sorry  that  thou  hast  done  us  good.  The 
calling  and  the  gifts  of  God  have  no  repentance ; 
thy  heart  is  ever  full;  thy  Spirit  is  ever  going 
forth;  thou  art  ever  enchurching  that  Spirit  in 
the  common  world  of  men. 

We  implore  thy  blessing  now,  Almighty  One, 
that  our  hearts,  attuned  to  pure  feeling,  to  rever- 
ent and  devout  sentiments,  to  simple  childlike 
faith,  may  sit  in  heavenly  places,  and  be  taught 
by  thy  Son  and  thy  Spirit. 

Comfort  those  who  are  in  deep  anxiety  and  in 
sore  distress ;  lift  up  those  who  are  almost  over- 
whelmed in  despair;  enlighten  the  minds  of  the 
ignorant,  and  send  rays  of  divine  light  and  peace 
and  glory  upon  the  souls  that  are  imprisoned  and 
in  darkness.  Give  thy  Spirit  abundantly  to  all 
thy  human  creatures;  inspire  good  men  more 
abundantly  that  their  light  may  shine  and  that 
their  works  may  testify  of  God,  our  Father ;  and 
may  we,  in  some  humble  earthly  measure,  be 
imitators  of  thee — children  of  God,  in  thy  like- 
ness, in  thy  love,  following  thy  word  and  com- 
mandment, and  trusting  to  thee,  and  expecting 
from  thee  all  good.  AMEN. 

193 


Almighty  God,  our  Father,  fulfill  now  in  our 
hearts  every  pure  desire,  every  heavenly  thought, 
and  every  sweet  affection;  and  may  gratitude 
and  blessing  ever  give  us  peace  and  joy  in  thy 
providence  and  Spirit ;  and  even  as  thy  gifts  are 
ever  and  ever  without  repentance,  so  if  we  have 
gone  abroad  in  a  world  of  thy  making  and  of  thy 
providence,  if  we  have  done  any  good,  if  we  have 
given  any  good  gifts,  may  we  never  repent  of 
them.  AMEN. 


194 


JANUAEY  26,  1890  -  EVENING 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  thou  Inspirer  of  men,  we  thank 
thee  for  thy  protecting  care.  We  invoke  now  thy 
gracious  presence  and  thy  Holy  Spirit.  Let  thy 
providences  be  for  all  men ;  thy  Spirit  inspiring 
them  with  judgment  and  knowledge  and  reason 
and  understanding  and  righteousness.  Bless  thou 
our  common  country,  our  beloved  land;  en- 
lighten the  minds  of  all  rulers,  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  his  counselors,  the  Congress, 
the  governors  of  states,  the  elders  of  cities; 
and  everywhere  may  the  minds  of  men  be 
illumined  as  by  a  light  from  above,  and  reason 
itself  transform  to  angelic  moral  beauty. 

Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  our  city  to-night. 
May  intelligence  increase;  may  virtue  abound; 
may  righteousness  be  our  law,  with  generous 
sympathies  for  our  fellow  men,  and  justness  and 
uprightness  before  God.  Let  thy  blessing  be 
upon  all  those  who  are  heavily  tried  or  afflicted, 
by  poverty,  by  distress,  by  sickness;  who  are 
brought  nigh  unto  death.  And  over  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  all,  do  thou  be  the  Inspiring 
Spirit,  the  upholding  Providence,  the  paternal 
God.  AMEN. 

195 


FEBBUAEY  9,  1890 

ALMIGHTY  GOD,  thou  Maker  and  Inspirer  of  men, 
we  invoke  thy  blessing  on  us  now,  and  implore 
the  enlightening  light  of  thy  Spirit,  purifying 
our  minds  and  hearts  and  making  us  children  of 
the  light — those  who  love  thee,  who  love  the 
truth,  who  love  the  ways  of  righteousness,  who 
love  our  neighbors,  and  who  love  God.  Let  that 
gracious  Spirit  flow  in  divine  grace  and  benedic- 
tion among  us ;  let  our  common  and  daily  duties 
be  adorned  with  unearthly  beauty;  and  let  us 
find  in  the  commonest  occupations  of  life  a  teach- 
ing of  God,  a  teaching  of  eternal  wisdom,  a  guide 
and  help  of  conscience,  a  purifying  grace  of  our 
minds  and  hearts. 

We  implore  thy  gracious  benediction  and  thy 
tender  pity  upon  all  who  suffer  in  any  way, — 
who  suffer  wrong,  who  suffer  distress,  who  are  in 
any  woe  of  body  or  of  mind.  Check  the  proud, 
the  thoughtless,  and  the  selfish.  Increase  our 
human  feeling  and  our  consciousness  of  depend- 
ence upon  one  another;  and  may  we  feel  and 
learn  more  and  more  that  our  great  distinction  is 
that  we  are  human,  that  we  belong  to  the  com- 
mon lot  of  man,  that  we  belong  to  the  common 

196 


family  of  God,  and  that  we  can  look  up  to  him 
imploring  his  mercy,  his  providence,  and  his 
grace  to  guide  us  on  to  a  great  and  common 
destiny. 

Father  in  heaven,  forgive  our  sins;  pity  our 
weaknesses;  lift  us  up  if  we  are  fallen;  encour- 
age us  if  we  are  despairing;  and  may  we  all  cry 
from  our  hearts,  "Lead  me  on,  my  Host." 
AMEN. 


197 


FEBEUAEY  16,   1890  —  MOENING 

WE  are  come  again  to  our  house  of  prayer ;  again 
we  lift  up  our  voice  in  solemn  joy  and  gladness, 
in  holy  and  devout  meditation,  imploring  and  be- 
seeching thee,  thou  Almighty  One.  Thy  going 
forth,  thy  holy  providence,  thine  ever-enchurch- 
ing  Spirit,  are  with  us.  Thou  guidest  us  by  thy 
strong  and  merciful  hand,  and  art  wiser  for  us 
than  we  can  know  or  tell;  and  even  in  our  for- 
lorn and  half -forgotten  ways  of  thoughtlessness 
and  selfishness,  thou  art  still  pursuing  the  divine 
husbandry  of  thy  Spirit,  and  art  teaching  us  in 
ways  that  we  know  not,  and  leading  us  up  to 
heights  from  which  we  shall  look  back  upon  our 
past  folly  and  weep  over  it  and  be  ashamed  for 
it.  Lift  us  up,  Almighty  God,  into  such  heights 
now.  Give  us  a  clear  illumination  of  divine  re- 
ligion and  pure  affection  and  penitent  love,  that 
we  may  feel  what  manner  of  men  we  are,  what 
beings  we  are,  what  life  we  lead,  what  love  sways 
us,  and  what  principle  is  our  guide. 

Holy  One,  we  thank  thee  for  the  ever-present 
privilege  we  have  of  looking  abroad  on  thy  works 
and  beholding  thee  in  mountain,  on  the  sea,  and 

198 


through  gentle  valleys  and  by  great  rivers,  and 
in  the  cataclysms  of  the  world  and  the  thorned 
service  of  the  earth.  We  find  the  wonders  of  thy 
power  in  the  parable  of  human  life  and  being,  in 
our  own  souls  and  our  character  before  God ;  and 
while  no  earthquake  or  storm  or  tempest  quite 
destroys  the  world,  so  may  no  folly  of  ours  quite 
ruin  us,  but  by  thy  grace  coming  swiftly  to  our 
rescue,  the  sun  of  thy  Spirit  beaming  ever  upon 
us,  may  the  good  lessons  of  our  experience  come 
to  life  again  and  make  our  hearts  to  shine  with 
beauty  and  be  glad,  and  the  gentle  rains  descend, 
the  sun  shine,  suns  rise  and  set,  and  dews  fall, 
and  all  be  green  again. 

Holy  Father,  impress  us  deeply,  we  pray  thee, 
by  thine  ever-present  Spirit.  Impress  us  with  a 
sense  of  the  earnestness,  the  reality,  the  solem- 
nity, and  the  hope  of  human  life.  Correct  us 
with  wise  severity,  if  thou  wilt,  and  give  us  a 
heart  to  desire  that  thou  shalt  never  draw  back 
thy  corrections  until  our  hearts  are  indeed  re- 
newed— renewed  by  thy  Spirit,  renewed  by  our 
own  experience. 

Almighty  God,  we  ask  thy  blessing  upon  all 
our  fellow  beings.  We  pray  to  be  lifted  into  some 
serene  height  of  human  feelings,  where  we  shall 
see  the  world  of  men  as  it  is,  and  we  shall  feel 
that  we  are  what  we  are,  and  no  more  and  no 
less.  May  the  vague  distinctions  of  life  be  ban- 

199 


ished  from  our  minds.  May  we  learn  to  feel 
with  gratitude  that  our  great  distinction  is  that 
we  are  human,  that  we  belong  to  the  common 
family  of  God,  and  we  are  called  to  be  sons  of 
God ;  and  may  we  be  living  in  the  world  day  by 
day,  admonished  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and 
yet  fully  conscious  that  our  mortality  is  but  an 
event  in  our  being,  and  that  thou  wilt  lead  us 
forward  to  new  experience,  to  new  fields  of  ac- 
tion, and  to  the  wonders  and  unspeakable  power 
of  eternal  life. 

Almighty  God,  hear  our  prayer;  forgive  our 
sins ;  give  us  fortitude  to  meet  every  emergency 
of  life,  every  trial,  every  disappointment,  and 
every  joy;  and  may  we  be  ever  strong  in  thee, 
our  Rock,  our  Refuge,  our  Defense.  AMEN. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father,  we  thank  thee  for 
serene  heights  of  holy  visions  which,  as  we  look 
afar  and  see  something  of  the  hope  and  power  of 
thy  grace  and  thy  providence,  we  think  better  of 
ourselves, — however  meanly  we  may  think, — we 
think  hopefully,  we  think  wisely ;  and  our  hopes 
seem  great  enough  to  save  us  forever  and  for- 
ever. For  these  visions  we  thank  thee.  And  may 
the  outward  world  be  a  parable  of  our  souls,  a 
parable  of  thy  providence,  of  thy  love,  thy 
Spirit,  and  thy  grace  evermore.  AMEN. 


FEBEUAEY   16,   1890  —  EVENING 

0  THOU  unto  whom  all  creatures  look,  and  on 
whom  all  creatures  wait,  thou  openest  thy  hand 
and  givest  meat  to  every  living  creature;  thou 
givest  daily  bread  and  providest  for  all  the 
creatures  that  thou  hast  made;  thy  holy  provi- 
dence is  over  the  world  of  men;  and  as  early  as 
time  began  thou  didst  have  witnesses  of  thyself ; 
and  all  the  heights  of  the  world  blaze  with 
tokens  of  thy  presence,  thy  guidance,  and  thy 
power.  Righteousness  is  thy  throne  and  judg- 
ment is  thy  dwelling-place  forever;  and  though 
justice  be  put  off  and  thy  kingdom  is  long  com- 
ing, yet  it  is  sure;  thy  justice  is  eternal,  thy 
truth  is  ever-fast. 

Almighty  God,  we  implore  thy  blessing  upon 
our  minds  and  hearts,  that  they  may  be  con- 
firmed in  the  ever-coming  of  God's  kingdom,  in 
the  continual  advance  and  progress  of  man's 
earthly  lot  and  fortune,  and  in  the  improvement 
and  growth  in  power  of  his  moral  and  spiritual 
estate.  Let  thy  blessing  be  upon  all  good  insti- 
tutions of  society, — upon  all  the  courts  of  law, 
upon  assemblies  and  legislatures,  upon  schools 
201 


of  learning,  upon  churches  of  religion ;  and  may 
religion,  law,  learning,  charity,  human  good- 
ness be  increased  and  glorified  in  the  world.  Let 
thy  pities  and  tender  mercies  be  upon  all  those 
who  are  oppressed,  whose  lot  is  hard,  whose  for- 
tunes are  feeble,  and  who  are  feeble  in  their 
own  powers,  feeble  in  the  endowments  of  heaven, 
such  as  are  given  to  the  common  lot  of  man. 
Lift  up  the  oppressed;  encourage  and  enlighten 
those  who  are  always  on  the  verge  of  despair ; 
and  comfort  and  bless  all  according  to  thy  good- 
ness. And  let  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and 
judgment  prevail. 

We  ask  thy  blessing,  Almighty  God,  upon  the 
people  of  the  city  to-night — upon  all  classes  and 
conditions  and  fortunes  of  men ;  upon  the  weak, 
the  wayward,  the  wicked;  upon  the  strong,  the 
proud,  or  the  haughty, — that  these  may  be  chas- 
tised, and  that  those  may  be  looked  upon  with 
tenderness  and  lifted  up  with  infinite  grace.  En- 
lighten our  minds,  we  pray  thee,  by  thy  spirit, 
to  discern  all  goodness,  to  sympathy  with  all 
human  sinfulness,  and  to  aspirations  towards 
thee  for  every  human  being.  AMEN. 


-  tfl 


YC   15589 


